


Out of my Shell

by NightInGaleMinds



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Action & Romance, Comedy, Denial of Feelings, Donnie - Freeform, Drama, Explicit Sexual Content, Falling In Love, Forbidden Romance, Horror, In Character, Leo - Freeform, M/M, Michelangelo - Freeform, Mutants, Ninja, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Out of My Shell, Raph - Freeform, Raph/Don - Freeform, Raphael - Freeform, Romance, Secrets, Sexual Tension, Slow Romance, TMNT, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Freeform, Turtlecest (TMNT), Turtles, and deviantart, complicated feelings, don/raph, donatello - Freeform, evil can opener monster, fluff and giggly feelings, horror stuff, kinda cesty, kinda gay, leonardo - Freeform, master splinter - Freeform, naughty books, what happened to karai? is mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2019-11-16 02:28:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 63,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18085688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightInGaleMinds/pseuds/NightInGaleMinds
Summary: A new villain seeks to terrorize New York, not only in the streets, but the sewers as well! Millions of people's lives are at stake and it's all way too close to comfort! -Speaking of which, something strange seems to be going on between Raphael and Donatello...





	1. Pizza Grounded

Intro:  
_All I ever wanted was the freaken can opener. YES! All of this started because I wanted to open a stupid can of pork and beans! If Donnie hadn’t broken it and tried to give it super kraang powers I would’ve never gone there!  
…So this is all his fault!_  
  
**\- Chapter 1: Pizza Grounded**  
Donatello bit his tongue in concentration as he carefully lined the inner cogs of the can-opener to the lip of the can. With a hard clench of his fist, he felt the rewarding pop of the metal give beneath the pressure and Donnie smiled widely, moving eye level to watch the can opener’s mastery at work. “These are just so awesome!” he exclaimed. He had to applaud humans. Whoever thought up the idea to use small aluminum canisters for food preservation was simply a genius. And the fact that it came with its own tool just made it that much cooler. It was just so clever, not to mention resourceful. Ever since April had introduced him to the concept a few nights ago, Donnie had been trying to opt out their regular pizza diet with whatever random miracle lied behind the wonder of the can.  
Today, it was mushrooms.  
Leonardo glanced back from his spot on the couch to see what had Donnie so worked up about. “Mushrooms?” He quirked a non-existent brow. “How are _those_ awesome?”  
“Because,” Donnie explained, “they are being opened from a _can_ with a can _opener!_ ”  
“…Right.” Of course. What had _he_ been thinking? The blue-clad brother glanced back, wondering what it must be like to be able to get excited over something like that. His thoughts were interrupted by the horrible squeaking sound of wheels, coming from across the lair.  
“A little help here?!” Mikey’s voice called above the noise, pulling behind him a red wagon piled high with boxes upon boxes of aluminum cans.  
“What? Mikey…” Leo groaned as he got up. “What are these?”  
“Three words, dude: canned ham.” Donatello couldn’t help correcting him.  
“Those are two words… and where did you get all of these?”  
“Dude, you wouldn’t believe it! Someone was just throwing them out at the store down the street for no reason! I believe he called it _spur-puss_ or somethin’…”  
_“Surplus…_ ”  
“Heh, yeah… that word,” Michelangelo admitted sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. Fancy words were never his strong point.  
“Huh. Cool,” Donnie nodded in approval.  
“Pshh, yeah! We’ll never have ham-less pizza again! We’ll never have ham-less _anything_ again… because WE won’t be ham-less,” he announced, feeling quite proud of his findings.  
“Why won’t we be ham-less?” Raphael staggered out into the main room, scrubbing his face with a towel, clearly just getting out of the shower. His mask wasn’t even on yet, scrunched and dangling in his left hand. He stopped short, nearly walking head on into the giant wagon tower of ham in the center of the living room. “The heck’s all this?” he demanded, “pork n’ beans?”  
Michelangelo rolled his eyes at his brother’s foolishness. “Uhh no. Ham!”  
Raphael brought the red fabric to his eyes and tied it off, squinting at the label in scrutiny. “They can ham?” he asked in disbelief.  
“I guess so,” Leo shrugged.  
Donnie grinned, cheerily displaying his gap-toothed smile. “Well I think it’s perfect!”  
“Of course you would,” Raph retorted. Michelangelo looked between all three of his older brothers, ready with the million dollar question:  
“Soooo… WHO WANTS SOME _HAM?!_ ” He asked it as though he were hyping up a crowd. He secretly loved to cook. He was proud that he could best all of his brothers in this particular skill, simple as it was.  
“Yeah, sure… I guess…” The eldest brother shrugged unenthusiastically, Donatello having already dashed to the kitchen.  
“I’ll open up a few cans!”  
“Yeah, you do that.” Raph rolled his eyes. Leonardo stretched his arms over the table with a sigh.  
“I don’t know guys, I could really go for some pizza though…”  
“Nonsense,” Donnie criticized, “we should all be exploring all the different food groups that topside has to offer and start improving our diets.” Raphael looked at him quizzically.  
“…With ham?”  
“Yes,” he answered, pulling out the can opener again with a smile. “Just a moment and I’ll have them open in a jiffy.” Again he reconnected the same parts just the way he had before, broke the seal, and turned his wrist.  
_Klunk!_  
“Klunk?!” Donnie stared as the can opener fell apart in several pieces on the counter. “Uh-oh.”  
“That better be a good uh-oh,” Raph threatened.  
Mikey shook his head knowingly. “It’s never a good uh-oh.”  
Donnie studied the wrecked can opener, trying to figure out what had gone wrong. “Um…” he started shyly, “I… think I broke it.”  
“Nice,” Raph shot.  
“Well!” Leonardo spun in his chair, “I guess we’ll just have to order pizza…” he said submissively, as though that hadn’t been his first choice of cuisine in the first place. He rose to his feet and went to locate Master Splinter in his room, leaving Donnie to the mess.  
Leo stared at the delicate paper door and slid it back, stepping carefully inside. Master Splinter sat meditating breathlessly still beneath his tree, as he always did about this time. Leonardo approached cautiously, both hoping and not hoping that his father would detect him and most of all that he was not of any disturbance. But, step after step there was still no acknowledgement and Leo deduced that he must be in a deep trance, which was even worse to interrupt. He’d have to be careful.  
“…Sensei?”  
“Let me guess, you want money for pizza,” the wise rat turned to him knowingly, “…And Donatello broke the can-opener.”  
His blue eyes grew wide. “How did you know that?!”  
Master Splinter rose to his feet with the assistance of his cane. “How many times do you suppose you’ve asked me for pizza money this week?” he inquired.  
Leonardo thought about it a moment. “Uhh… a few…” he admitted sheepishly.  
“Twelve times!” His voice held a certain bite of irritation that made Leo start to regret his intrusion.  
“Sensei, you said so yourself, Donnie broke the can-opener, what else are we supposed to do?”  
“Try being resourceful,” he authoritatively suggested, heading towards the door and Leo scrambled after him.  
“But… we were! And then Donnie broke the can opener!”  
“There is always more than one way to achieve a goal,” he replied sagely and then addressed his other sons.  
“NO PIZZA!”  
“What?!” A predictable uproar immediately ensued.  
“How are we supposed to eat?!” Mikey asked in horror. Master Splinter’s eyes panned over to his eldest son, waiting for him to explain.  
“…We have to be resourceful,” he said reluctantly.  
“Ugh…” Mikey and Raph groused. “Not one of those.” Master Splinter drove his staff into the ground, snapping them all to attention.  
“Observe.” The boys watched as their master grabbed one of the cans; his long fingers curled into a menacing curve and swiftly stabbed his claws through the lid of the can. In a single slow rotation, Master Splinter had pulled the top off completely. He flicked it, the centripetal force sending it spinning like a throwing star into the refrigerator, and only narrowly missing Leonardo’s head. He delicately reached in and pulled out a small piece of ham, tasting it thoughtfully.  
“Hm… not bad.” For a moment, the teen turtles stayed quiet in awe at the sheer power of their master. Michelangelo was the first to speak.  
“Uh…we don’t have super sharp razor claw nails of death!” he reminded him.  
“Well then you better get _creative_.” And with that, the wise rat turned to take his leave. Leo paused to think, pulling his katana from their sheaths.  
“Everyone duck,” he ordered, eyeing the can. His three brothers obediently crouched low. With one quick slash, Leo took the entire top off of the can and helped himself to its contents. Michelangelo studied his own nun-chucks and, taking Leo’s lead, pushed the blade out to use it as a primitive can-opener. Raphael scowled at his own can before stabbing his especially violently with his sai.  
_‘What am I supposed to do? Stab holes in it? This is stupid!’_ He thrust the sharp point into it, piercing it again and again, until it looked less like a can and more like it had gone to war and lost. His short fuse temper burned out and he turned on Donnie.  
“This is all your fault! You HAD to break the can opener!”  
“I didn’t mean to!” he looked sadly at all the components. “O-On the bright side I think I could easily use the kraang tech to make improvements on it so it’ll never break again… I could have it done by tonight!”  
“You better! Cuz I can’t eat like this!” he shouted, pointing his sai-skewered can at him menacingly when a thought crossed his mind. “Hey, since you started this, how ‘bout _you_ open it?” He flung the sai, sending the can flying off the end and hurling at Donnie, crashing into the wall above him. It exploded upon impact, raining a huge mess of sharp metal and congealed ham all over Donatello, who crumpled to the floor in a heap.  
Leonardo quickly jumped over the counter and rushed to his brother. “Donnie, are you okay?” he turned to Raph. “What is _wrong_ with you?!”  
“I…” he started, still trying to connect all that had happened. “Oh come on! You’re alright, aren’t ya Donnie?”  
Leonardo helped him up as Donnie nursed a searing pain in his head. He looked like he was bleeding. Raph took a worried, tentative step closer. Donnie’s eyes snapped harshly to Raph’s.  
“Get away from me,” he threatened. His older brother froze, watching as Leo wrapped his arm around his shoulder and led him back to his lab. Raph caught Leo’s harsh, disapproving gaze as he walked by. Even Mikey gave him that look… the one he gave him when he really messed up. And then he, too, left to go after the others, leaving Raph alone.  
…Why was he such a screw up?


	2. A Little Revenge

\--- Chapter 2: A Little Revenge  
  
Raph waited a while, hoping Donnie would cool off before entering the lab. Leo had just gone back to the kitchen and cleaned up the mess and brought Donnie all the components to the can opener so he could look it over. Raph knew he had to apologize. He hadn’t intended to hurt Donnie. He didn’t know _what_ he had intended when he flung the can, but it certainly wasn’t this. He rounded the corner to the lab and saw Donnie leaning back against the wall with an ice pack on his head, trying to study all the broken parts of the can opener. Raphael swore he could almost hear the cogs turning in his head.  
God, he hoped he was less mad.  
“...Hey.”  
Donnie's brown eyes flickered up to Raph before returning his attention to the different parts. “Can I help you with something?”  
His voice was so cold.  
Raph rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. He never was very good at apologies.  “…How’s the fixin’ going?”  
“…Fine.”  
“…....Look, I’m sorry, okay? It’s not like I meant to hurt ya…”  
“Yeah, you’re heedless, indiscriminant violence never _tries_ to hurt anyone,” he clipped.   
Now Raphael glared, his patience starting to thin. “Ya know, when I apologize that’s usually a sign to take it and run…”  
“You know if you want me to finish this in time for your _royal highness_ to eat, I suggest you go bother someone else.”  
Raph slammed his hands on the table, his blood now boiling and itching for a fight. If he was confident in anything right now, it was his ability to beat Donnie black and blue. Donatello glared right back at his brother, daring him to make the first move.  
Raph gritted his teeth against his anger, forcibly giving himself a few moments to let it simmer. His hands clenched into slow dangerous fists.  
“Look, I said I was sorry… whaddaya want from me?”  
“I’m tired of you walking all over me!” Donnie yelled exasperated, rising to his feet. “You bully me every single day and I’m sick of it! Why should I fix _anything_ for you in the first place?!”  
“Because _you_ broke it!”  
“And _you_ nearly split my head open!”  
“Yeah well you look just fine to me!” Eyes narrowed to venomous slits.  
“Cool off, guys!” Leonardo arrived on the scene, rushing between his two brothers and pushing them back.   
“What is wrong with you two?!” Leo quickly sensed the tension and quickly herded Raph towards the door. He shrugged angrily out of his touch and stormed out the door on his own accord and Leonardo shut the door behind him.  
“I thought you went in there to apologize!” he glared.  
“I did! And then he decided to be an asshole!”   
Leonardo scoffed. “Raph...”   
Raphael pushed past him and Leonardo knew well enough to leave him alone.  
He needed to cool off.  
\---  
A few hours later, Donatello presented his finished masterpiece to everyone. It was amazing how different it looked. It was so sleek and strange, parts radiating with a bright pink light; now durable and completely automatic by his design.  
“I made it stronger, faster, quieter _and_ easier to use. Even Mikey should be able to navigate it without hurting himself...” he boasted.  
Michelangelo wanted to give him a snarky comeback, but it was kind of true.  
“Now come on,” Donnie encouraged, “let’s get creative and make ourselves something to eat.”  
“That’s what I’m talkin’ about,” Mickey grinned brightly. “Stand aside and watch the pro at work.” He cracked his knuckles, his mind already turning with ideas for what he’d make for breakfast. Donatello sat down at the counter and Raph lumbered over and plopped into the chair next to him, avoiding his eyes. A swallowing silence hung over the two of them.  
“…How’s your head?”  
Donnie glanced up. “I’ll be okay,” he muttered.  
“…..I screwed up,” Raph admitted gruffly.   
Donnie thought that over. “I did too.”  
“…The can opener looks good,” he complimented. Donnie immediately brightened up a little at that, smiling his trademark gap-toothed smile.   
“Yeah it was actually quite fun to put together. Kraang tech really is fascinating. You know if they weren’t trying to kill us, they’d be really great to study.”  
“I wouldn’t touch one of those nasty gobs of brain with a fifty foot pole,” Raph grimaced, “I hate it when they touch me while we’re _fightin_ ’.”  
“Agreed, but whatever they use as a power source alone contain such strange and mysterious properties… I don’t even fully understand it all! With its molecular structure it’s a wonder it’s even stable.”  
“So you gave these powers to our can-opener?”  
“And the Shell-Raiser, and a bunch of other stuff of ours…”  
“…Sounds promisin’.”  
“It’s fine. I have it all under control,” he shrugged, “I have up to this point haven’t I?”  
Raphael thought about it. He did have a point.  
“Ham and vegetable omelet thing with noodles!” Mikey announced. “And I even made it shaped like a pizza.” He set it down on the counter, proudly displaying it before his brothers.  
“Looks gross,” Raph critiqued.  Leonardo reached over and smacked him hard in the arm.   
“It looks great Mikey,” he complimented kindly.  
Donatello didn’t say anything, but he wasn’t about to tell his brother how unappetizing it looked. The noodles made it look like some horrible mess straight out of a sci-fi movie. Nevertheless, they each took a small portion of the strange concoction and began to eat.  
“Eh, not bad… definitely not pizza though,” Mikey sighed. After a few moments of silent munching, Donnie heard Raph’s embarrassed grumble beside him.   
“By the way Donnie, if ya want, you get a free shot at me later for… ya know… what I did.” Donnie quirked a non-existent brow at that. He may be physically weaker than Raphael, but he wasn’t so weak that he needed a free shot at anything… but…  
There were other ways to get back at him.  
“Fine. I’ll take you up on that,” his purple masked brother agreed coolly, slurping up some noodles with a smile. Satisfied that everything was finally settled between them, Raph gathered his plate innocently.   
“Welp… I say… dibs on the T.V!” he got up and dashed over the couch and leapt into his favorite spot.  
“Hey…” Mikey whined, but it was no use. Raph had already made himself comfortable on the couch, remote in hand, soon finding the program he wanted. It was some thriller movie about all the computers of the world becoming sentient and enslaving mankind with lasers… with plenty of violence, just like Raph liked it.  
Donatello watched Raph hunched over his food, already completely absorbed into what he was watching and he smiled devilishly, an idea already sparking him. Donnie got up, stalking carefully behind him and pulled his bo staff from the back of his shell. He took careful aim and with a firm push, struck Raph in the back of the head, just hard enough to make him fall face first into his food.  
“Now we’re even,” Donnie grinned cheerfully.  
Egg, ham and spaghetti noodles slowly slithered their way down Raphael’s shocked face.  
Leo and Mikey froze for a long horrified moment and then exploded into hysterical laughter.  
“He got you good, son!” Mikey roared.   
“Uh Raph, you got a little somethin’ right there,” Leo snickered, motioning to the entirety of his face.  
Raph then shot Donnie the look that was usually reserved for Mikey before he pounded his face into the floor… thinking about doing just that.   
“Ah ah ah,” Donnie tsked, backing up, “free pass, remember?”  
Raphael froze and Donatello spun his staff proudly back onto his shell, smugly strutting his way to his room.  
“I dunno man I think egg on your face is a good look for you,” Mikey complimented, earning a murderous look from his short tempered brother. Raph stalked over dangerously, hooking Mikey around the neck to give him a well-deserved noogie. And as Mikey screamed, yelped and thrashed for freedom, Raph shot a secret smile in Donnie’s direction.  
He’d earned that free shot.  
  
\-------  
 _That night, as the shadows of nightfall spread evenly over the lair, the strange can-opener whirred to life and suddenly began to glow a little brighter. Soon it bathed the entire kitchen in its strange eerie light and from its small, sleek body it protruded a pair of mechanical hands and then feet. Then the creation stood, an almost facial-like structure arranging itself on the top of its head, while quiet blades spun and whirred sinisterly in its hands.  
It sought destruction, blood… and the screams of anyone that would listen. And so it set out into the night, past the rooms of the sleeping turtles, to go find just that._


	3. The Deviant

**\- Chapter 3: The Deviant**  
  
    Raphael turned over in his bed and blinked his green eyes awake, looking around the shadows of his bedroom. He couldn’t help but feel he wasn’t alone. It almost felt like something had been there, watching him sleep.  
    He rubbed his head sleepily and got up, peeking just outside his bedroom door. But the hall was empty. Everything was still and quiet, even the stale air of the lair seemed somehow asleep. He looked at the clock on his nightstand. It was 10:42 am.  
    Why was he awake at 10:42 AM? He didn’t have a damn clue. Nobody in the lair was awake at 10:42 am but he _did_ know one thing in his groggy half-asleep state:  
    He was hungry.   
    Rubbing his eyes, Raphael lumbered his way to the kitchen and peeked inside the refrigerator, hoping to discover some leftover pizza. He internally cursed the brightness of the fridge light for forcing his eyes awake and then he remembered.  
    No pizza. Canned ham.  
    He grabbed one of the cans lazily in his fist and trudged over to the can opener… only to find for some reason it wasn’t there. He glanced around the countertop, thinking maybe he was looking in the wrong place. But it was nowhere to be found. It was just gone.  
    “…Did Donnie kidnap it or supmn?” he grumbled. Then he thought he heard a sound and he lifted his head. It seemed to be coming from Donnie’s room. It was just a small wisp of a sound, but it still definitely had to be Donnie, as a faint light still illuminated his bedroom door.     He must be awake for some reason, working on something.  
    Maybe it was the can opener.  
    Raphael approached the room tentatively, wrapping his knuckles quietly against the door. “Yo, Donnie!” he called softly. The door creaked back against his touch, allowing him to peek inside. The room glowed its strange impersonal glow it always did when Donnie was inside and he reluctantly stepped in. Donatello’s room was always eerie to him, particularly at night. Beakers shimmered with a strange life, books stood tall in ominous stacks and the sinister glow of Kraang tech stared him down as if they knew he didn’t belong there. He didn’t remember the room being quite so creepy. Raph supposed that Donnie’s lack of presence had something to do with that.  
    Well, it was too soon to rule that out quite yet. Raphael saw the light on his desk in the back of the room was on, and that was only ever on if he was here, so he decided to investigate further. “Donnie! Ya in here?” He strode past the tables towards the actual bedroom part of Donnie’s room, where the light made things less creepy.   
    His eyes trained to the empty swivel chair and the computer desk, a tricked out nerd station of controls and unfamiliar gadgets. The wires snaked like vines over the table and reached out towards Donatello’s bed.   
    It was vacant. He really _wasn’t_ here.  
    But Raphael sensibly knew that if the desk light was on and the door was open that he’d be back soon. He could wait. He’d probably just missed him. Raphael plopped down into the spinning chair, staring in disinterest at all the wires that somehow meant something to Donatello.  
    Man, this place was boring. How could he stand it?   
    “Is there _anything_ interestin’ in here?” He looked around and grabbed a handful of books from a stack beside him on the floor and read the first title aloud. “Quantum Chemistry: A Guide to Electronic Structure…” He recited, opening the book, “More like: Quantum nerd’s guide to ultimate Nerdsville.” He tossed it haphazardly over his shoulder to mockingly read the next. “Theory of… I don’t care…” He threw it back, losing interest instantly, the next title cheerily staring him in the face. “ _Calculus?_ Really?” he leafed through it. “Does he seriously _read_ this stuff?” Obviously he had, as Raph noticed a few of the pages had been marked with sticky notes. He looked down at the pile of books he’d grabbed from to see each one of them were filled with different colored bookmarks and sticky notes. Raph shut it with a hard _thunk_ and chucked it across the room like a Frisbee, staring critically at the last book’s title. “Advanced BDSM. Oh, this ought to be exciting,” he said sarcastically, opening the book with a particular violence.  
    His hard green eyes scanned the pages below. It only took Raphael a moment to process what he was actually reading before his eyes grew wide. With an uncharacteristic yelp, Raph shoved away from it in horror, as though the book had suddenly become radioactive and covered in roaches.  
    “What…?” He read the title again. Why did Donnie have a book like that? Better yet, why was it full of bookmarks and sticky notes? Raphael glanced around the room to verify he was alone and scooting back towards the desk, began to turn through the pages once more.     It was graphic, filled with pictures of humans tied up, chained and contorted into all kinds of positions Raphael had never even considered. The mutant turtle blinked, adjusted in his seat, and in captivated interest, actually started to read.  
    “Raph? What are you doing in here?”  
    Raph turned, quirking a brow at his younger brother standing in the doorway. “You’re… uh… into some pretty freaky shit, Donnie.”  
    Donatello raised a brow back, and pushed his door open further, surprised to see Raph reading of all things. “You’re _reading?_ …Is that my anthropology book?” He walked closer.  
    Raphael grinned evilly and closed the book, waving it tauntingly so he could see the title.  
    And Donnie stopped dead in his tracks.  
    Raph flipped to the inner cover, reading the full title out loud, a taunting lilt in his voice: “Advanced BDSM for the Sexual Deviant… Huh… Something you uh… care to share with the rest of the class?”  
    Donnie’s normally pale green face flushed a shade of red as he dove for the book. “G-Give me that!” he snapped.  
    Raph’s eyes gleamed devilishly and he stood up, keeping the book out just of his brother’s reach. “So you’re into bondage…”  
    “I said give it back!” Donnie craned his arm and after struggle, finally succeeded in wrenching it from his brother’s hands. He gritted his teeth, trying to hold back the ire and embarrassment he felt for having Raph violate his privacy in such a way. “It’s for _educational purposes!_ ” he defended.  
    “Tch… yeah, I’ve got a couple ‘a mags in my room I keep for _educational purposes_ as well.”  
    “Stop it! I really _did_ get it for educational purposes! I found it in a dumpster a while back with a bunch of other books. All of which, I’ll have you know, had _nothing to do_ with… t-that.”  
    Raph gave him a look. “A dumpster? What, behind a sex shop?”  
    “At a _library._ They may be unfamiliar to you… maybe you should try going to one sometime,” he jabbed.  
    “…Nah, not interested,” Raphael leaned back in his seat, letting the insult wash over him. “I just can’t believe you’re into that stuff. I mean, that means… you probably know more about that stuff than _me!_ ”  
    “That’s because I _read_ ,” Donnie reiterated coldly.  
    “Yeah but, you could actually _teach me_ things,” he said in disbelief. He couldn’t get over that. Donnie was still his _younger_ brother after all. It just didn’t seem right.  
    Donatello’s dark eyes washed over his brother, for once feeling slightly superior. “You’re right,” he agreed, “…I probably could.”  
    Raphael stared at him a second. There was just… something about the way he said that…  
    “Now, if you’re quite finished,” Donnie continued, “you may kindly _see yourself out_.”  
    “Pshhht glad ya asked,” Raph shot, getting up. He strode briskly out of the room and the door slammed shut behind him. It was only then that he remembered. “Darn it! I forgot to ask him about the can opener.”


	4. Trouble in the Streets

**\- Chapter 4: Trouble in the Streets**  
  
    “Senseiiii how much longer do we have to _starve?_!” Mikey whined as he tipped another can of ham back and let the congealed meat slither and plop into his mouth. He leaned back against the counter in defeat, setting the empty can down beside the can opener.  
    Leonardo looked him over. “Doesn’t seem like you’re starving.”  
    “Well I am! I haven’t had pizza in like… two days! We’re _savages_ down here!”  
    Leo just quirked a nonexistent brow at him from beneath his blue mask.  
    “We are _not_ starving,” Donnie rolled his eyes, handing him the empty plate to his once ham-based breakfast. “I’ll be in my room.”  
    Donnie trudged his way down the hall towards his bedroom. A quiet day like this meant there was only one thing on his mind: trying to find a retro-mutagen. It was his duty. For April, for everyone. All of his spare time was dedicated to this and it still just wasn’t enough. The mutagen situation was so much more out of control than he’d ever feared it would be and he couldn’t help but feel discouraged. There just wasn’t an answer. Could he even find it? He wished there was someone _anyone_ out there who could help him, but that was impossible. There was so much pressure in the knowledge that it all boiled down to him that lately, he wasn’t so sure he could do it. But still he marched to his room, opening the door, trying to shake the discouraging thoughts from his mind.  
    “Now this one’s kinda interestin’…”  
    Donnie raised his eyes to see Raphael. In his room, leaning back in his chair with the book in his hands; the one he had so artfully hidden the night before.   
    Or so he’d thought.  
    “So what do the uh… blue tabs mean?” the red clad brother wondered.  
    “G-GET OUT OF MY ROOM!” Donnie yelled, sprinting across the room and ripping the book out of his hands.   
    “Hey, I was reading that…”  
    “OUT!”  
    “You better not have lost my page…” Raph threatened.  
    “Consider it lost! Get out and stay out!”  
    Raph leaned back teasingly. “And how come you get all of the fun, huh?”  
    “All of the fun?!” Donnie gaped. What kind of sick joke was that? “As much as I support your new-found interest in reading, kindly go do it somewhere else… and _away_ from my books!”  
    “Come to think of it,” Raph said in mock thought, “if I recall correctly the girl on that page was a red head…”  
    Raphael watched the color visibly drain from Donatello’s face. He smirked. “Huh. The blue tabs wouldn’t have anything to do with that, would they?”  
    Any good thoughts Donnie had ever had about his brother were thrown out the window. Raph was evil. Pure, unadulterated evil. He felt like the air had been punched out of his lungs from the inside. This was viscous to a villainous degree!  Why, oh, _why_ did he have to have found that book?!  
    His brother stood tall and smug as Donnie’s fragile ability to stand up to him crumbled to pieces.  
    “So the blue tabs…”  
    “STOP IT! Stop it okay?! …Stop it…” Donnie begged. He was only turtle, a teenaged turtle at that. If Raph’s objective was to humiliate him, he had won. Donnie turned away ashamed, his hands balled up to fists. “What do you want from me Raph?”  
Raph blinked at that. “Huh?!”  
    Donnie started to shake. “I don’t have any money. All the money I have goes to finding a retro-mutagen and I just bought a whole shipment of nonoxynol… though I guess that really isn’t your style, is it? You’re more of a ‘make me your slave for the rest of your life’ kind of guy…”  
    Raph blinked at the unexpected turn of events. He wasn’t wrong about him being that kind of guy but maybe he had taken the joke a little too far. Donnie was shaking like a leaf.  
    “Really, there is _no excuse_ for my behavior… e-even if I am a teenager with hormones that…”  
    “Donnie Donnie Donnie.” He interrupted. Seriously, he didn’t need the run down in gross nerd language how puberty worked. “Um…”  
    Donnie looked up, those big, brown eyes shining sadly behind his purple mask. He looked like a puppy. A stupid, lanky, freshly kicked puppy. It was almost enough for him to cave in, but Raphael had an image to keep. “Ahem…” he cleared his throat, not keeping eye contact for fear of going soft. “I’ll think about it and get back to you on that... cuz to be honest, I ain’t done torturin’ ya yet…”  
    Was that supposed to make him feel better?  
    “Hey… I’ve got to pick on ya, it’s how I roll.”  
    Suddenly Mikey burst through the door. “Guys! We have a problem!”  
\--  
    _“Our top story tonight: Local neighborhoods wake up to find their peaceful cul-de-sacs completely destroyed…”_ News images lit up the television and the turtles gathered round, staring wide-eyed at the footage. Cars were shredded and torn half. Buildings were sawed open, leaving brick and metal shrapnel in the streets. Even the roads themselves had been ripped apart, as though a giant pizza cutter had gone into the night to tear the city in two.  
    “What could have done something like that?” Leonardo muttered.  
    “Do ya think the Kraang are behind it?” Raph suggested.  
    Leo shook his head. “I doubt it. The Kraang are more into lasers... and they don’t cause nearly that much damage.”  
    They continued to watch the images deftly, but there was one thing that was even more unsettling to Donnie. “…Why had no one heard them?”  
    The others turned to him.  
    “What? This happened in the middle of the night and nobody heard a thing! Doesn’t that strike anyone else as odd?”  
    Mikey scratched his chin in thought. “Maybe it was the _Pizza Cutter Phantom~_ ” he said spookily.  
    Leonardo shot him a disapproving look. “This is serious Mikey.”  
    “I _am_ being serious! He goes out in the middle of the night in search for his long lost pizza love… the one he lost before his tragic end… haunted, never resting until he finds his one true pizza. OW!”  
    Raph dealt him a blow to the back of his head, hoping futilely to knock some sense into him. “…There is something _seriously_ wrong with you,” he said.  
    Mikey stuck out his lip in a pout.  
    “We’ve got to go topside to find out what’s going on,” Donnie insisted.  
    “I agree,” Leo nodded, “we head out tonight.”  
\---  
    The four turtles crouched low and traveled by shadow, doing agile flips over the quiet, sleeping buildings of the metropolis. The scene of the crime was actually a neighborhood they knew all too well. It was only seven blocks away from their lair at best, which made it all the more disturbing just how close to home it was.  
    Maybe it was a mutant? Some new one they didn’t know about? Soon the carnage came into view.   
    It was even more disturbing in real life.  
    “Wow, does that look rough,” Donnie muttered.  
    Raph shrugged and leaned in. “Eh, you like it that way,” he cracked, leaping away.  
    Donatello gawked after him for a moment.   
     _Why?!_  
    When the coast was clear the four jumped down into the ruined streets, studying everything, hoping to uncover some kind of clue as to what happened among the rubble.  
    “Seriously whatever it was,” Mikey did a hand spring off of a bungalow overhang, “looks like it tried to cut this place straight up pizza style.”  
    “…Chainsaws?” Donnie posed.  
    “That would almost be my guess, except they’d have to be enormous.” Leonardo stared at the huge trench that ran down the middle of the road and through half of what was once someone’s Nissan Altima. “Alright split up,” he ordered, “look for anything else you can find.”  
The four separated among the debris, turning and leaping to avoid the mess of shorn metal and broken glass. A particularly interesting crack caught Donatello’s eye that threaded through the gravel for several more yards before it came to an abrupt halt. He followed it to the end and knelt down to study it further. The folds of the concrete pushed out like a flower at the end, as though something had pushed through.   
    “Guys, I think it came from the ground!” Donnie called. “Right here.” They all gathered around, and Leo noticed the nearest manhole cover was only feet away and right in line.   
    The realization sent an unsettling chill from their scales to their shells.  
    His eyes hardened. “Whatever it was… it came from the sewer.”  
    What cut through the air then, was nothing short of a blood-curdling scream.  
    They ran towards the sound, traveling north four streets ahead, perpendicular from the one they had been on before. There they found a business woman shaking, clutching her child to her chest in fright but no one was there. The only evidence that something _had_ been there, was a single gauge that ran all the way through the center of the street, running serpentine, cutting through all it could without any discrimination.  
    “Who are you?!” The woman screamed out into the empty air. “Why are you doing this?!”  
    By aid of darkness, the four heroes watched but... what else could they do?


	5. Desire

**\--Chapter 5: Desire**  
  
     _Hours._  
    They had been out there, scouring the streets for what seemed like hours with still no sign of the mysterious night visitor. In the end, four tired ninjas dragged their feet down the long tunnels to their home, tired, hungry and luckless.  
    “I just don’t get it, how has nobody seen anything?” Leo wondered.  
    “ _My_ bet is still on the Pizza Phantom,” Mikey confidently replied.  
    Raphael narrowed his eyes on him. “How would a ghost pick up a chainsaw?” he challenged.  
    “Uhh, ghost chainsaw, dude. That’s why nobody hears it.”  
    ...As if that was a totally legitimate answer.  
    Raphael tried to resist the urge to hurt his brother, but the temptation was mighty. Donnie quickly intervened on his behalf.   
    “Highly unlikely... There’s got to be a logical explanation for this.”  
    “Well, I don’t know about you guys but I can’t think on an empty stomach,” Leo announced. “Who wants some ham?!”  
    “…OOH! ME!!” Mikey waved his hand in excitement, “I’m _totally_ down!” He pushed past all of them in order to catch up to the prospect of food.   
    Donnie and Raph just stared after him for a moment, marveling at the wonder that was their younger brother.  
    “…Wasn’t he the one complaining about ham a few hours ago?”  
    Donnie shrugged. “I make it a point to never try to understand what goes on through his brain.”  
    Raph chuckled at that. No truer words had been spoken. He smiled over at that Donnie, who returned it with his own light, dorky little Donnie smile…  
    Raph turned his eyes away nervously. And as he did, Donnie thought saw something else strange flash in his brother’s eyes.  
    It disappeared as soon as it came, quickly replaced with his trademark devilish smile and Raph circled about, giving him a hearty knock in the shoulder before leaving him behind all alone in the empty hall.  
    “Ow,” Donnie tried to rub the hurt from his arm as it seemed Raph never quite knew his own strength. He wondered to himself what had suddenly caused Raph’s sudden strange behavior, remembering the way his eyes had shifted and that look that came over his face.  
    It had almost looked like… fear.  
\--  
    Eventually Donnie caught up to the rest of them and sat down under the warm, comfortable light of the kitchen. Mikey was hard at work opening up three new cans of ham that would inevitably go with their next meal, an apron proudly tied around his shell.  
    “Today’s menu is ham spaghetti,” he announced brightly.  
    Raphael maneuvered his way into the chair beside Donnie, the glass of water he poured himself earlier held tight in his fist. “Gee, I can’t wait,” he said sarcastically.  
    ….Something was still off. Donnie didn’t know if it was his body language or what it was, but he just knew…  
    Something was really bothering Raph.  
    Donnie stole a glance over beside him, watching Raph take a long draw from his drink.   
    “…You starin’ at somethin’ in particular?” he teased.  
    “Ah!” Donnie turned away startled, a bit embarrassed that Raph would accuse him of that. “I… just… was wondering… you looked a bit troubled earlier… is something wrong?”  
    Raphael blinked his green eyes. “No, nothin’,” he said into his glass, taking another swig.  
    Donatello was unsatisfied with the answer but took it quietly, now feeling Raph’s smoldering eyes pan over, studying him right back and he couldn’t help feel a little self-conscious. Lately he’d been making him more uneasy than usual, but then again Raph always had that piercing stare that made you feel like he was trying to burn a hole through your soul. “So where’d ya hide the book this time?” Raph asked.     “Let me guess, behind your second bookcase?”  
    “How do know these things?!” Donnie wailed, louder than necessary.  
    “I’m _right_?!” Raph couldn’t believe it. “Man, you are _seriously_ bad at this. How do you even _function_?!”  
    Leonardo rolled his eyes from the kitchen. He had no idea what they were talking about, not having paid attention in the least, but at least they seemed to be getting along for a change. Michelangelo had just finished his concoction and presented it to all of his brothers making his way to the couch. “Who’s up for some _Robo Ninjas Three~_? I call first player!”  
    “What? No way! Why am I always second player?!” Leonardo grabbed a plate of the finished weirdness and sat down on the couch with Mikey.  
    Donnie glanced over to Raph. Their eyes met for a moment too long and Donnie quickly averted his gaze, listening to Mikey.  
    “Because _I_ am the master… though we can’t really play a game while we’re eating at the same time,” Mikey muttered, his eyes growing wide, as this was a very serious dilemma of life.  
    This _always_ seemed to be a serious dilemma of life with Mikey. He looked from his controller to his food, the pressure of the decision bearing down on him. “To eat… or play video games? _Eat_ … Or _videogames?!_ ….EAT?! Or…”  
    Donnie smacked himself in the forehead at the idiotic plight and grievous lack of common sense. “Why don’t you just _wait_ until you’re done eating before trying to play your game?! You know it never works out for you!”  
    Michelangelo thought about it, recalling to all the times he had tried and he’d either a) choked on his food or b) forgot about it until it went cold.  
    “Donnie’s right,” Leo asserted.  
    “ _Of course_ I’m right!”  
    “Alright,” Mikey agreed, “I’ll eat first, but _only because_ I don’t want to choke on this ham.”  
    Donnie rolled his eyes and turned to Raphael only find he was no longer there. He glanced around for him but he just wasn’t anywhere.   
    He must have gotten up and left while he was talking. But where could he have gone? Then Donnie’s eyes widened, now having a dark inkling where his brother had gone.  
    Oh, he hoped he was wrong.  
    “Uh… I’ll be in my room!” he announced.  
    “Kay,” Leo replied, already far too distracted by the game to care.  
    Donnie walked casually down the hall until he knew he was out of sight before breaking out into a full sprint for his bedroom. Sure enough the door was unlocked and slightly ajar.   
    “But I locked it!” He quickly threw open the door.   
    Of course he was there.  
    Same spot. Same pose, book in his hand, reading away as though he belonged there. Donnie’s eyes set into a glare. “How did you get in? The door was locked!”  
    “Was it? Didn’t notice,” Raph replied, his eyes never leaving the pages. Donatello stalked dangerously over.   
    “…So are you a dom or a sub?”  
     Donnie snatched the book angrily back, his brown eyes blazing.  
    “Ugh!” Raph groused. “Ya always take it at the best parts!”  
    “WHY ARE YOU HERE?!”  
    Raph glanced at the book. “Shouldn’t it be obvious at this point?”  
    Donnie scowled. “L-Look, if you want the book then go buy it… yourself,” Donnie’s words lost weight as Raph stood full height, staring him down with those disarming eyes. He hated how easily intimidated his brother could make him sometimes.   
    Though, he supposed he didn’t really have much room to be intimidating with a pornographic novel in his hand.  
     ….Raph seemed so much taller than he remembered.  
    “Nah, I like this one,” Raph replied calmly. He stepped in close and reached over, wrapping his fingers around the book weakly clutched to Donatello’s side.   
    “Ya never answered the question…” his voice washed low and intimate over Donnie, rooting him to the spot.  
    “Q-Question?” It was difficult for him to think straight with Raph so close...  
    Raphael leaned in, gauging every reaction, ready to maneuver the book from Donnie’s deft fingers.   
    He repeated his suggestive question. “Dom…” he pulled, “Or sub?”  
    Donatello tried to form shapes with his mouth but his brain was not being quick with the uptake. “Ah-Ah I…” he took a confused, awkward step back. He violently tried to jar his thoughts back into place.  
    Raph smirked widely, giving his brother a mocking thump on the forehead with the blunt of his book. “…Sub,” he decreed. And with a victorious turn, Raph strode back to Donnie’s chair and flopped back in, feet comfortably propped, opening the book to his desired place.  
Donnie stood there for a second, numb and a shell of his formal self.  
    Finally though Donnie kicked his senses back into place and stared hard at his brother…. reading in his seat as though he belonged there. As though he had _invited_ him in! Donnie sifted through all of his thoughts. He was a little confused by what had transpired, but truly, it was of no consequence. What _did_ matter was that Raph seemed to think that it was perfectly acceptable to break into his room and just lounge around all smug as if he owned the place.   
    This was _his_ room! Key word: HIS.   
    Donatello’s fists clenched angrily. He marched over and snapped the book shut harshly on his brother’s thumbs and held them there tight. Raphael, though startled, was hardly off-put by the action, or Donnie’s burning glare.   
    He was a ninja after all, trained to get out of situations like this all the time. Raph met Donnie’s stare and with a simple jerk and skillful rotation of his wrists, wrenched Donnie’s grip on the book. Though in consequence, he also sent it flying airborne across the room, before it landing safely on Donnie’s bed. Raph glanced over at it and then locked eyes with Donnie’s. It was only for an instant but they could each read the competitive glint in the other’s eyes. This was a challenge.   
    And Raphael was not one to ignore a challenge.   
    He instantly made a dive for it, but Donnie was faster. He grabbed him by the wrist and threw him back into the chair, but Raph only grinned, wheeling back and spring loading a kick right to Donnie’s chest. Donnie doubled over and Raph was free so he made another dive. But Donnie recovered quickly and jumped to intercept yet again, this time pulling him into a headlock. They struggled, brain against brawn, but still Raph was trapped.  
    “Ack!” “Ugh!” “Oof!”  
    “Hrrrgh…” Raph gritted his teeth and drove his knee hard into the back of Donnie’s. His grip loosened and then Raph ducked out, dealing him a fierce karate chop straight to his face. Now free with him stunned, Raph scrambled again for the book. Donnie blinked his senses back just in the nick of time to sweep his leg out and trip him. Raph toppled to the floor and Donnie wasted no time launching himself on his back. Raph bucked and thrashed, craning his arm towards the book, just inches from his hand.  
    Finally, at long last, he felt the cover of the book on his fingertips and he wrenched himself free.  
    “I’ve got it!” he yelled, leaping up victoriously to his feet. But his victory was short lived.  
    A low guttural sound rolled from Donnie’s throat and suddenly he was on Raph.  
    Raphael yelped in shock and tripped backwards onto the bed, struggling a bit under Donnie’s anger-driven strength. But still he fought on, kicking and shimmying out from under him, trying to keep the book high and out of his brother’s reach.   
    But Donatello was _not_ about to let Raph win. Not this time.  
    With his left hand, Donatello violently grabbed and twisted Raph’s wrist, painfully so, and the book unwillingly dropped from his hand and tumbled to the floor. Then Donnie then dealt the finishing blow, driving the heel of his palm under his brother’s chin and knocking him flat on his shell. He then climbed over top of him, pinning him down by the wrists against the sheets.  
    Raphael panted heavily, trying to catch his breath, his brain only starting to catch up to the compromising position he was in. He struggled a bit in place but Donnie only narrowed his eyes and squeezed tighter, securing his dominance over the situation.   
    Raph stopped fighting and stared up at his younger brother. Whatever this was, Donnie was in complete control. Raph wasn’t quite sure if he liked it or if he didn’t; but what he _did_ know was that fierce look in his eyes had him wired. He flexed his arms against his captor’s hands like a predator waiting for his prey’s next move and his shell started to feel tight. A tension rose like a thick smoke, challenging him… challenging him to do _something, anything._ He secretly wanted to push him further, wondering what Donatello’s next expression would be, but all he would do was hold still beneath his brother, staring up at him with hard, expecting eyes.  
    Donnie was only just starting to come down from his battle high, the strange tension rising up and settling in his throat. He didn’t understand the look Raph’s eyes currently had, but he squeezed his arm when he tensed, moved when he did, almost without thinking. He knew he probably shouldn’t be there anymore but he couldn’t make himself move, simply staring down at his brother’s eyes.  
And the tension grew dark. The moments dragged on much longer than appropriate. Donnie knew he should say something to right himself and put an end to all of this, but for whatever the reason proper thought was not his strong suit at the moment.  
    Finally Raph broke the silence with an awkward, trademark Brooklyn smile. “…Tension, huh?” Then his voice fell a suggestive low.  
    “…What do ya want from me, Donnie?”  
    Donatello blinked his mind to reason and quickly let go of Raph, scooting backwards and away from his brother, nervously searching his brain for some kind of excuse. “N-Nothing!” he answered quickly.  
    Raph arched a brow from beneath his mask and sat up, sliding right back into a too-close-for-comfort stare. “Bullshit.”  
    “I… I… R-Raph….” Donnie backpedaled away until he hit his shell against the footboard of his bed. Then he tried to stand but the attempt was clumsy and he fell again against his bed.  
    And Raph only slid closer. “You started this, Donnie.” He shrugged his shoulders loftily.  
     _“I_ started this? You… you were the one who kept breaking into my room… and… all this stuff…” Donnie’s once vast vocabulary now failed him, seemingly just tossed straight out the window. If he could climb back any further he would, but he was at a dead end. And those green eyes showed no reprieve.  
    Raph mulled his words over. “Okay… maybe I did…” he admitted.   
    His voice was tight and he was way too close.  
    Donnie held his breath, his face and chest felt hot. Stupid hot. Because of _Raph_ of all people. He swallowed, nervously waiting for Raph to play it off into some kind of joke, make fun of him as he always did…   
    But this time he didn’t.   
    Those emerald eyes stared, boring into him so deep he couldn’t breathe. And there was not a shred of dishonesty in them. What he saw instead was... well, it was almost like…….   
    Desire.  
    The silence dragged on and on until Donnie felt as though he were being sucked into some kind of terrifying vortex. And his brain screeched to a halt.  
    _……Oh._  
    That’s all he could feel was: _‘Oh.’_  
    “…..Ya asked what’s botherin’ me…”  
    Donnie’s mouth fell open. He was speechless. Raphael hated that silence. It was too honest. It cut into his head, rang way too loudly in his ears and he quickly got up, moving briskly towards the door.   
    “Wait… Raph…!” he tried to call after him, but it was too late.   
    He was already out and gone.


	6. Metaldroid

**\--Chapter 6: Metaldroid**  
  
    “What is _wrong_ with me?!” Raph’s head was spinning so fast he honestly thought he might hurl.  
    What had he done? He wanted to throw himself out a window, quick end it all, reboot life like some kind of video game.  
    Start over…. Why couldn’t he just start over?  
    “What was I _thinkin_ ’?! …I don’t even know where half that stuff came from! Am I insane?!” he wailed, staring wildly over at Fake Spike for some assurance that maybe he wasn’t.  
    But Fake Spike only stared back at him in reply, his glued on button eyes hardly sympathetic to his situation.   
    “I think I’m goin’ nuts!” He sat up in his bed and stared hard at his hands, trying to piece all that had happened together. “…I don’t know what came over me… It’s like… I was jokin’ around with him… and then… I _wasn’t_ jokin’ around, ya know?”  
    Still Fake Spike only continued to stare.  
    ….He sure could use the real Spike right now. Fake Spike just wasn’t up for this level of crisis.      
    Not that Fake Spike wasn’t a good listener… he just wasn’t the same.   
    Fake Spike was just something he had idly put together for himself a little while back. He was forged of an old helmet, some sand filled socks, buttons, glue and a little ingenuity, but Raphael was still proud of his creation nonetheless.  
    For as little as it was, he had actually grown to appreciate Fake Spike’s company and looked forward to the day when his true companion would once again sit at his side.  
    And right now Fake Spike needed to help him out of a serious crisis.  
    ..….Maybe Donnie thought he was joking. He was _kind_ of joking after all.   
    “H-Heck what am I worried about? For all I know this whole thing will blow over by tomorrow and Donnie will have totally forgotten about it…”  
    …..No, Raph wasn’t delusional. He massaged his temple, his thoughts running wild again.  
    “...He’s gotta be totally freaked out. And he should be! …He’s probably thinkin’ I was comin’ on ta him or somethin’! …I didn’t come on ta him though. I DIDN’T!” He pointed at Fake Spike angrily.  “Cuz that’d be totally messed up!”  
    The silence that answered him only brought on another wave of doubt.  
    “…..Ya don’t think I came on to him, do ya?”  
    …..No, that was ridiculous. Completely absurd. “I didn’t come on to him,” he muttered firmly.  
    Who would come on to that half-wit nerd of a brother of his?  
    The room swelled into a terrible quiet and now was not a time to be alone with his thoughts. Raph's green eyes flickered over to the radio on the night stand. He reached over and turned the dial, eager for any kind of distraction.  
    _“…Coming in from 106 FML radio asking everyone: is there someone special on your mind tonight?”_  
    Raph smashed the radio with his fist. It popped and fizzed in a loud, panicked mess and he scrambled with the dials, turning off the noise so the room was quiet again and he shut his eyes.  
    …What was wrong with him?  
    He stared hard at his dull brick ceiling, his hands balling up into angry, confused fists. Then he reached down, rummaging for something on the underside of his mattress and after a moment, finally protruded a slightly crumpled magazine. Raph smoothed it over carefully with his large hands and held it high above his head, staring hard at the blue eyes of the cover girl.  
     …….Donnie had brown eyes.  
    Raph lethargically dropped the book on his face.   
    This was going to be one heck of a long night.  
\--  
\--  
    “Morning guys!” Leo announced cheerfully, spinning on his heels, a bright smile on his turtle face. “Who’s up for some morning training?!”  
     _“UGH!”_ his other three brothers groused in response, tired faces all hitting the table at once.  
    Leonardo raised a brow at every one of them. “You guys all look awful—you should seriously get some more rest.”  
    “Easy for you to say,” Raph growled under his breath. He hated Leo’s voice right now. He’d been up all night running circles in his head and dying to relieve a dark, unwanted tension. The only time he had ever left his room was once to take a very, _very_ cold shower.  
    “Ugh, Leo can’t we skip it today?” Mikey whined in sleepy distress. “I was up _reaaaally_ late last night trying to build… get this: a sculpture made completely out of leftover ham.”  
    Raphael glanced over at Mikey with heavy eyes. “Why does that not surprise me today?”  
    His voice sounded hard and worn and it did not go unnoticed by his brother, Leo. It worried him. He was about to inquire Raph on the matter, but his thoughts were interrupted by an especially loud, drawn out yawn that came from Donatello.  
    “Why are _you_ tired?” Leo wondered.  
    Donnie was the only one of his brothers besides himself that at least _tried_ to stick to a strict sleeping routine. Unless they had been out late fighting, or there was something pressing to invent, it was exceptionally rare to see him tired or roll out of bed very late.   
    But today he looked the worse of them all. His head drooped low. Deep bags hung beneath his eyes and there were strange, small burns littering his fingertips.  
    “I couldn’t sleep,” he muttered distantly.  
    “…Couldn’t sleep?” Leonardo repeated. That was… new….  
    Donnie toyed with the edge of his mug of tea uncomfortably; his eyes fixed into a thousand mile stare. “…I made three hundred and seventy two ninja smoke bombs last night,” he replied.  
    His brothers turned to him in shock. _“What?!”_  
    “…I also fixed the leak in the Shellraiser… and I think I discovered the cure for small pox.”  
    “. . . . . . .”  
     _“…Dude…”_ Michelangelo decided then and there that his next mission was to find Donnie a hobby. Because that was just sad… not to mention totally crazy and weird.  
    “There’s... already a cure for small pox Donnie,” Leonardo said as carefully as he could.  
    “…I know,” he muttered.  
    Leo and Mikey looked at each other, not noticing the way Raph’s fists clenched quietly around his drink.  
    “O…kay….” Leo turned away awkwardly. “Let’s… see what we’ve got going on for breakfast.”  
    Mikey glanced up. “Is it ham?” he asked sarcastically.  
    The leader shot him a look and then he noticed something was amiss.   
    “Um… Donnie, did you do anything with the can opener last night?”  
    “No…?”  
    He looked back to the empty space of the counter. “…Are you sure? It isn’t here.”  
    Donnie looked over his shoulder from his chair. “Well that doesn’t make any sense…”  
    A cheery tune suddenly cut through the air and they turned their attention to the television. _“We interrupt our regular program to give you breaking news as our city is once again under attack.”_  
    What they saw next on the news footage was horrible.  
    A strange, robotic wiry mess of a creature stalked forward in the street, wreaking havoc with every step it took. Long metal tentacles slithered through the air, armed with a thousand jagged blades of all different shapes and sizes. And they cut through everything, and tearing anything that dare stand in its path. The tentacles twisted from its misshapen body and they swooped back, casually cutting through three street lights as though they were merely twigs. The creature then opened its mouth in a terrible hiss, its gaping throat revealing a horrible mess of cogs wire and blood.  
    And people screamed.  
    Each turtle’s eyes widened in abject horror and without another word, the four warriors rushed out of their seats, all need for sleep abandoned and their eyes set for battle.  
\--  
    “When we get there, do not leave the Shellraiser unless I tell you directly. We’ll have to lead it into the shadows… We can’t afford to be seen by humans in broad daylight,” Leo directed.  
    Donnie’s fingers rattled against the keyboard as he turned it on and quickly adjusted his security systems. “What villain attacks during the day?” he wondered.  
    “Apparently this one.”   
    Donnie’s eyes flickered over to Raph. Their eyes met for an instant before immediately turning away.  
    “Take a third left on Seventh Street,” Mikey ordered. “Then you’re gonna take a right immediately after that.”  
    “Roger that,” Leo replied seeing the turn up ahead, pulling into what shambles were left of the street they had seen on the evening report.  
    “Arrgh! We missed it!” Raph glanced around. “How did we miss it?!”  
    Then they felt a hard THUD as if something massive had thrown itself into the side of the Shellraiser with a force that nearly threw them out of their seats.  
    “I don’t think we did!” Leo yelled and suddenly they were sent airborne careening sideways, the entire Shellraiser tumbling two flips before landing upright. Leo rocked in his seat from literal shell-shock and turned back to his brothers.  
    “Is everyone alright?!”  
     _“Blegh!”_ Mikey could almost see stars from the shell lash.  
    “Did it just… _throw us?!_ ” Donnie asked, trying to gain his bearings.  
    “That is so rude,” Mikey muttered.  
     What could possibly be powerful enough to throw the Shellraiser?  
    A rumble shook beneath their feet and a sinister-sounding hiss answered their thoughts.  
    “Yeah and it’s comin’ back!” Raph yelled, his eyes wide.  
    It was right in front of them. That same metal creature stared down at them, wrapping its many winding tentacles around the Shellraiser’s body and lifting it off of the street. It glared an eerie pink glare at the turtles; the strange sound of Kraang tech whirring down at them like a warning. It seemed to grin at them, presenting its many hideous blades to the window. And then they began to spin, making a terrible screech against the armored body of the Shellraiser.  
    Raphael gritted his teeth. “EAT SOME OF THIS!” he roared. He grabbed the weapon controls in his hands, commanding the garbage ball cannon and opened fire on its face.  
    But all it did was knock it off balance at best.  
    Raph stopped and blinked. “…Well, sewer bunnies,” he cursed.  
    “Stick to the plan guys,” Leo said, “Lead it towards the shadows.”  
    But it still had the Shellraiser in its tentacle grasp, now rocking them all from side to side.  
    “Yeah… a little difficult when it’s playin’ rock the bus!” Raph pointed out.  
    “Everybody hang on,” Leo growled. He gripped the throttle and threw it forward, pushing pedal to the metal towards the creature, knocking it back. Then Leo threw it in reverse, sharply swerving down a large alleyway safely shaded by large overhanging rooftops.   
    Donnie nearly had a heart attack.   
    “Leo, are you crazy?!” Raph demanded.  
    But it _had_ worked. The creature was following in hot pursuit, away from the populated streets.  
    Michelangelo glanced back and he had an idea. He jumped to the back cannon station and narrowed his eyes into the cross-sight of the scope.   
    “Booyakasha,” he muttered.  
    And he took fire, shooting manhole covers into what he assumed was stupid thing’s face. The aftershock came back at him hard but it was nothing Mikey couldn’t handle.   
    “Take that, Metaldroid!” he shouted.  
    Raph turned at the idiotic name. _“Metaldroid?”_  
    Donnie checked all of the cameras and his eyes widened in horror. “Guys…?”  
    Leonardo glanced back in the rear view mirror to see the metal being reaching a strange hand out towards them. It curled its fingers and one by one they just dropped, falling off its host, each one becoming their own tiny entity. They became tiny saw blades, scurrying about like spiders on long spindly legs. When creature ran out of fingers the blades simply fell from its body and they began to cover the Shellraiser, trying to saw their way through the ceiling.   
    Suddenly the name felt extremely insignificant to Leo.   
    “Metaldroid it is. Raph, take the wheel!” he ordered, leaping from his seat.   
    Raph abandoned his station and jumped into the driver’s seat as Leo kicked out from the emergency exit and climbed up onto the roof.  
    He drew his swords dangerously from his back and attacked, trying to cut as many of the little monsters as he could despite their numbers. He turned gracefully about the whirring saw blades, but no matter how many he felled, there were always more. Soon they were crawling up his body and were overwhelming the entirety of the Shellraiser.  
    “What’s the plan now?!” Donnie fretted.  
    Michelangelo’s eyes widened on the map. The street they were on was a dead end!   
    “Guys… we’re runnin’ out of street!” he warned.  
    Raphael looked in the rear view mirror, seeing the tiny chainsaw bugs were starting to overpower Leo. There were just too many of them. “Someone get up there and help Leo!” he ordered.  
    “I’m on it!” Mikey piped in and jumped up after Leo.  
    “Raph! We’re heading for a dead end!” Donnie warned again in a panic.  
    “Yeah, I know!”  
    Raph’s eyes finally found a place for them to turn when suddenly he felt the grind of something gripping both sides of the Shellraiser.   
    “Everyone hold on!” And he spun the wheel hard.   
    Leo and Mikey barely heard it in time and Leo stabbed his katana into the roof, grabbing Mikey tight as they spun out of control and stopped short. The two brothers flopped onto the roof, dizzy and disoriented, unprepared as Metaldroid had turned the corner and was coming up on them fast. Leo was still seeing double as a metal member came rushing through the air towards his skull but Raph jumped out to the rescue just in the nick of time, Donnie right in tow, both of them trying to push the tentacle back.   
    “You alright?” Raph gritted in weapon lock.   
    “Yeah.” Leo recovered and leapt to his feet, his swords ready and Leo and Mikey both sprang back into attack.  
    They leapt and twirled, striking from every angle he could, but each shot seemed completely ineffective. They were surrounded by thousands of the whispering blades, each with the potential to tear them all from their shells.  
Leo’s eyes hardened. This was too dangerous. One mistake and they could all be severely injured.  
    Or worse.  
    Michelangelo gripped his nunchucks tight, pushing that place that brought out a blade of his own. The sharp razor edge caught the light of the streets and his long chain rattled down to the floor, Mikey’s gaze as sharp as steel.   
    He threw the blade with deadly precision, the chain wrapping tight around Metaldroid’s head, catching it right between its eyes. And he pulled, splitting its metallic skull from front to back. It staggered off balance and the three brothers leaped forth, weapons forward and kicked the creature hard enough to send it crashing to the ground.  
    And the four let out a cheer at their victory.  
    But it was short lived. The blades came barreling back towards them, one only narrowly missing Mikey’s head had Donnie not come to his rescue, twirling now a spear in his hands and severing the metal limb straight from its body.  
    Leo and Raph had their own problems. They leapt and dodged, tossing throwing stars into its face to avoid close range combat but it all just seemed no challenge for the villain.  
    Raph skewered two of the tentacles together, tearing the limbs clean in half with brute force, Leo skillfully slicing down one after another but there were always more coming by the second and soon they were separated.  
    Then seven of them came to overpower Leonardo. He pushed himself fearlessly forward, but try as he might they again only seemed to be replaced by more. Then a dozen came at him and there was no way he could fight them all at once.   
    One of the tentacles coiled around him from behind, squeezing him tight and Leo struggled for his life as the spinning blade drove into his skin.   
    Raph heard his brother scream and jumped on it, stabbing viciously again and again with a wild determination ripping the limb apart from its body.  
    “Leo!” he ran over and gathered him up from the floor. “Leo, are you okay?!”  
    No, he wasn’t. His arm was bleeding from a terrible gash and Leo bit back the pain so as to not scare him. Then his blue eyes widened.   
    “Look out!”  
    A tentacle came down and swiped them both, sending the two boys flying. They rolled skillfully back to their feet, Leonardo gripping his arm painfully. The leader’s normally fearless eyes were wide, feeling so helpless as he watched the fight, terrified that he couldn’t help his brothers and he screamed out to them to fall back.  
    Then they heard a wail of pain from Michelangelo.  
    “Mikey!” Raph turned to Leo in a panic. “We can’t fall back! We have to take it down! They’ve got Mikey!”  
    “Raph…!”  
    “You stay _right there!_ ” Raph ordered menacingly. He was not going to let Leo endanger his life any more tonight, not with him as injured as bad as he was. And with that final order, Raph left him, running out into the buzzing fray to find his two brothers. They buzzed around his head, swarming like a horde of bees.   
    Donnie was hard lost in the affray and covered in a million tiny cuts but he was still fighting, violently beating them with his staff the best he could until one of them unknowingly crept its way up the back of Michelangelo’s shell.  
    The silent spinning blade turned to a horrible buzzing sound as it made contact and Mikey cried out in panic. That sound sickened Donnie and he leapt over to his aid, sending it flying as far as he could hit.   
    And then they were surrounded again.  
    Mikey backed up, his bright blue eyes wide with terror.   
    Raphael slowly made his way through the swarm and he glanced back at Leo, who was still fighting despite his injury against another onslaught of razor sharp blades. The air was so thick with them it was making it difficult to see.   
    Finally he found Michelangelo.  
    “Mikey!” he called, trying to see against the storm. “Mikey, go help Leo! Now! Get him out of here he’s been hit!”   
    Mikey looked back at him in horror.  
    Now was not the time to hesitate. He yelled out again. “GO!!!”  
    Mikey snapped out of his trance and scrambled back heroically towards the direction his brother, his eyes hard with duty.   
    “BOOYAKASHA!”   
    And now Raph looked for Donnie.   
    “Donnie?!” He called out on the top of his lungs. “Donnie!”   
    Suddenly he felt something bump his shell and there Donnie stood with him, back to back, the two completely surrounded by the buzzing blades.  
    “What now?!” Donnie asked, scared.  
    “Don’t get hit,” he answered and he spun his sai in his hands as Metaldroid himself parted the storm and stalked dangerously towards them.  
    “Right, I’ll get right on that,” Donnie returned sarcastically.   
    Then Raph felt Donnie’s stance shift, or more, stagger against him. He glanced back to his brother to find he was barely standing, covered from head to toe with bright red cuts.  
    His eyes widened. “Donnie!”  
    Metaldroid towered over them and suddenly raised a massive blade the size of a small car above their heads. It came down hard and the two dove out of the way. Raph rolled to a knee. The blade, however; came after Donnie, striking down as though to cut Donatello in half. It happened so fast, Donnie could only block the attack, raising his staff high above his head and it came down splintering his staff in two.   
    And Raph saw another one coming up from behind.   
    “LOOK OUT!” and he dove. They rolled safely out of the way together, tumbling over and over, Raph finally landing over top of him. “Are you okay?”  
    “I’m fine I… LOOK OUT!” Donnie grabbed him by the shell and rolled them both out of range again, this time so he was over top. “We’ve got to get out of here!” he wailed.  
    “No shit, Sherlock!” he blushed angrily. “And get off of me!”  
    “What?! YOU…” Donnie started but they would be interrupted as Metaldroid hissed.  
  **“BOOYAKASHAA!!!”**  
     _BOOM!_  
    Suddenly the Shellraiser drove into Metaldroid full force, sending it flying and barreling to the ground.   
    Mikey opened the door. “Quit your kissy facing and let’s go!”  
    “K-Kiss…?!” Donnie stammered, his face hot.  
    “Kissy face?!” Raph roared, “…We were NOT…”  
    “Let’s GO!!” Leo yelled, opening the door further. They felt the concrete rumble beneath them and another blade landed dangerously close to Raphael’s ankles.   
    Without another moment’s hesitation, the two jumped inside and with one last horrible screech of the wheels, the Shellraiser peeled off into the night.


	7. It's Just a Scratch...

**\--Chapter 7: It’s Just a Scratch…**  
  
    The ride home was a silent one, each of the heroes stewing bitterly in their failure. Raphael had been quick to temporarily bandage up Leo’s wound, but already it was soaked through and running red down the side of his arm.  
    They parked the Shellraiser in the garage and the four trudged their way through the empty tunnels, their feet sloshing across the damp concrete.  
    Donnie lingered back farther than the rest of them and Raph glanced back. His eyes looked funny and Raph wondered how much blood he had actually lost with the amount of cuts he had.  
    When he staggered into the door frame and Raph went over to him, threading an arm around his shoulders to lead him onward.  
    He couldn’t help but blame himself. He should have taken a different turn, shouldn’t have let Leo go alone…. He should have gotten to Mikey sooner and he should never have taken his eyes off of Donnie.  
    …No. Battle was battle. He shouldn’t be dwelling such things.  
    Michelangelo groaned miserably, trying to reach that sore place on the back of his shell. “ _Ughhh_ … I think he left a mark…” he whined.  
    They climbed up the station steps and trudged through the old turnstiles that marked home.  
    Their father’s eyes had instantly widened with worry upon seeing them and he ran over to his sons, inquiring them on all that had happened.   
    Leo relayed to him the unhappy tale while Raphael took Donnie over to the couch.  
    “Where’s your first aid kit? The big one?”  
    “Um…” Donnie blinked a moment, trying to remember. “In the lab,” he finally answered.  
    Raph wordlessly took off to retrieve it. Sensei herded Leo and Mikey over to the couch and when Raph returned, he and Sensei worked together to dress their wounds, Leo’s injury taking priority.  
    It was a very deep cut. He was lucky it hadn’t been worse. Master Splinter tried to be gentle, working a few special herbal remedies over it to help ease the pain. Raphael helped; fetching anything he needed and afterwards was charged with job of stitching it.  
    Raph hated playing medic. He just… hated lingering over the wounds of his brothers but he would do it in an instant for any one of them.     He’d be damned if Leo’s injury got infected.  
    He calmly threaded the needle through Leo’s scales, internally wincing when he did, but he worked dutifully all the way until the end.  
    “There, it’s over,” he finally announced.  
    Master Splinter looked his handiwork over and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “You did well, my son,” he promised.  
    But Raph didn’t feel like he had done well at all. The fact that Leo was so hurt just made him feel useless.  
    Michelangelo was next. He sat himself cross-legged in front of his father while he rubbed a special ointment over the lesion in his shell.  
    “Ow ow OW!” he yelped. “This stuff stings!”  
    “Do _not_ touch,” Sensei warned gravely.   
    Mikey bit his lip, trying his best not to, but it was extremely difficult when every fiber of his being was telling him to do the opposite.  
    Master Splinter then turned to his eldest. “It will be hard for you to sleep, Leonardo. Come, I have a medicine that will help further ease the pain. DO NOT TOUCH YOUR SHELL!” he scolded Mikey again, catching him in the act.  
  _“Awwgh!!”_  
    His eyes were stern. “….I have medicine for you as well. Come,” he ordered.  
    “Aww no way!” he whined. “It’s probably gross!” But knowing his father’s words were law, he got up, unhappily dragging his feet over to where he was.  
    And Master Splinter then turned to Raphael. “You will dress Donatello’s wounds.”  
    “Hai Sensei,” Raph replied firmly and with that he watched the three of them go.  
    It was only then that his hands clenched in place with the vain thought:   
    It just HAD to be Donnie.  
    Raph turned back to him, seeing he had already gotten started on the process and his eyes set seriously. “Okay, which ones hurt the most?”  
    “They all feel pretty even…” Donnie shrugged awkwardly, his eyes trained anywhere but him.  
     “Well we can’t let any get infected.” Raph grabbed a piece of cotton soaked in rubbing alcohol and dutifully applied it to his face.   
    “YYYOW!!” Donnie shot out of his seat, trying to suppress the harsh sting in his cheek.  
“What?!” Raph wondered in panic.  
    “ _Rubbing alcohol?!_ On my _face?!_ What is _wrong_ with you?!” he wailed.  
    “What?! What am I supposed to use?!”  
    “Uh… try _hydrogen peroxide_!”  
    “And… where the heck am I supposed to find that?” Raph looked in the box, rummaging nervously through all of the supplies.  
    Donnie rolled his eyes. “Right _here_!” he plunged his hand into the box, his fingers happening over his.  
    Raph glared at him and swatted his hand away, snatching up the bottle for himself. He grabbed a new piece of cotton and angrily tipped the bottle into it, starting the whole process over.  
    Donnie’s eyes narrowed. “I am perfectly capable of…”  
    “Shut up.” Raph snapped. “Sensei said I’m dressin’ your wounds so I’m dressin’ your wounds.”  
    He grabbed him roughly by the face, brushing the swab along a particularly huge cut that ran across the length of his cheek. Donnie refused to look at his eyes, trying to fight off the treacherous warmth that pooled into his face. It seemed as though they hadn’t spoken since the night before, when they had brought into light Raphael’s… interest. He hadn’t gotten to really speak on the matter and honestly, he still didn’t know what to say... or even what to think for that matter.  
    Raph moved silently from one cut to the next, diligently applying bandages when necessary.  
    Donnie swallowed nervously.  
    His eyes just looked so sharp and angry.  
    He wished he knew what to say.  
    When Raph had finished with his face, he moved on to his shoulders—then his arms, his chest, the carapace of his shell, working in silence. Donatello stayed as still as he could, trying desperately to think of something in the way of casual conversation. But he was far too distracted, hyper aware of every movement of his brother’s hands.   
    “I’m going to do the ones on your legs,” Raph’s voice interrupted his thoughts.   
    Donnie was silent as Raph kneeled in front of him, the medical box lowering again to the floor.  
    That too-obvious heat in Donnie’s face rose even higher and he swallowed, determined now more than ever to make small talk.  
    “U-Um…! _Gee_ Metaldroid was tough!” He blurted out.  
    He instantly cringed, mentally cursing his own stupid mouth.   
  _Smooth, Donnie, smooth._  
    “…Yeah,” Raph agreed lamely. And just like that things were awkward again.  
    Donnie quietly stared at Raph’s work, only now noticing that he had actually received a few cuts himself. And that gave them something to talk about.  
    “…Are you okay?” he asked, lowering his eyes.  
    “’m fine,” Raph insisted, “Just got a few scrapes. They’re nothin’ serious.”  
    “……Y-You got one ugly looking one on your forehead,” he joked.  
    “I’ll manage,” he dismissed.  
     Donnie clenched his hands into restless, awkward fists. He just couldn’t hold still any longer. He reached over into the medical box, quickly putting together something that would at least help the cut on Raph’s face. Then he grabbed Raph’s chin, tilting his face up slightly towards the light.  
    “Hey…!”  
    “Hold still,” he instructed.  
    “You hold still!”  
    Donnie grabbed him harshly by the chin. _“Hold. Still,_ ” He demanded. His eyes were stern. And so Raph awkwardly shifted just a little closer between his legs, raising his chin up so Donnie could better see.   
    The cotton felt cool and clean against his face like it always did when Donnie patched him up.  
    But Raph’s eyes looked at anywhere but him.  
    Donatello’s mind instantly shifted back to idle conversation but he fell short as he finished up, tilting his head slightly to admire his work.     “Good…. Better?”  
    Raph’s throat caught a little and he tore his eyes away clumsily. “…Y-Yeah. It’s fine.”   
    His hands fumbled back into the box. He had only a few ones left and then he would be finished so he set his mind hard to the task.  
    “I… um…!” Donnie cleared his throat. “I… have one other one on the inside of my leg. Right here.” he pointed to a long, but otherwise insignificant scratch that started from the back of his knee and up the length of his thigh.   
    Raph glanced up to him curiously and Donnie nervously opened his legs a little wider for him to treat it, his face flushed red.  
    What was he doing? He didn’t need that wound treated. It was only a scratch, but Donnie didn’t want Raph to leave just yet, not without them talking things over properly at least.  
    Raphael noticed the rush of color in his brother’s face but he tried to ignore it, busying himself again with the task at hand.  
    And now Donnie became impatient with himself, unable to figure out a way to arrange his words. His finger tapped nervously, his eyes lingering over Raph’s face then down to the tattered tails of his mask that sat on his shoulder.  
    All he had to do was speak. Why was it such a hard thing to do?  
    His eyes flickered hard over to the red fabric and he thoughtlessly reached out and took them, studying the worn material between his fingers.   
    Raph froze.  
    Donnie quickly realized what he was doing and yanked his hand back as though the action had burned him.  
    After a wary moment Raph continued again, opening a roll of gauze in his hands and he began to unnecessarily wrap the scratch, as Donnie seemed to be buying time.  
    The mind of the tinkerer turned impatiently as he felt the gentle material wrap around his leg, all the way down the injury and then Raph finished and he grabbed the scissors to cut it.  
    “UM!”  
    Raph raised his eyes.  
    “I… t-think I might need a bit more,” Donnie said quickly.  
    Now there was no doubt he was buying time, but Raph gave him what he wanted, wrapping his leg anew with another layer of gauze.   
    His face flushed and he asked again. “M-More…”  
    Raph could feel Donnie’s eyes studying him, it was hard to focus. He wanted to look, wanted to look away, Raph’s pulse racing quick when he met his gaze. And even when Donnie’s eyes fled, his voice coached him onwards: “…A little bit more…”  
    And Raph kept wrapping, taking his leg, wrapping it over and over and over until he was wearing the entire supply, forcing Raph to tie it off with awkward fingers, trapped in his brother’s heated stare.  
    “It’s all I’ve got,” he told him.  
    This was not normal. This was not normal at all. Raph swallowed nervously and gambled his hand up the warm inside of his bandaged leg. And Donnie watched, saying nothing. His fingers rose out of his compulsion, playing again nervously around the red ragged ends. And Raphael rose up just a little bit higher to give him better purchase.   
    “Um… R-Raph…”  
    Thousand-jumbled-thought stares trapped the two, locking a strange type of fear tight in their throats. Donnie’s subconscious screamed. How had things gotten this far? He should move, look away, say or do _something_ … but he forgot everything here, even how to breathe.  
    This was wrong. This was _so very_ wrong. He knew that, but…..   
    The haze rolled over Donnie’s eyes and Raph’s gaze dropped nervously to his lips.  
    They were drawing him in, playing against the brother’s internal cowardice.  
    It was only when he felt the fluttering presence of Raphael’s breath on his mouth that Donnie realized what he had allowed and he turned his head away, pushing him back.   
    “Wait… Raph…”  
    Raph pulled back, studying him with his hard, burning eyes. “…You want this just as badly as I do.”  
     Donnie shook his head firmly. “It isn’t right.”  
    Raph delicately reached over and ran his fingers all the way done the length of his mask. “…Isn’t it?” he challenged gruffly.  
    “No, it isn’t.” His voice was firm, his eyes locked firmly to the floor.   
    It was too dangerous to look anywhere else.  
    But Raph still stared. He stared until it made his blood burn. Donnie didn’t even have the common courtesy to say that to his face and what was worse, it forced him stare right in the face of his words.  
    This wasn’t right.  
    ... _Of course_ it wasn’t right! And somehow that made him angrier than anything. As quick and strange as everything had been swirling about in his head, he was sick and tired of all his thoughts and feelings looping back to just that… something so pathetic and stupid.  
    That this was wrong… _he_ was wrong. And gross, and disgusting and defective….   
    Whether it was true or not, it all just pissed him off!  
    Raph ground his teeth angrily and he threw the medical equipment into the box, shutting it with a harsh slam and he stormed away from his brother.  
    Donnie sighed. “Raph…”  He got up hastily and went after him. God forbid he victimized another one of his poor first aid kits because of his account.   
    He arrived just in time to see Raph open the door to the medical bay.  
    “That one goes back to my room I need to restock it,” he informed.  
    Raph slammed the door hard and stalked dangerously onwards towards his room.  
    “Raph… come on, don’t be like this…”  
    “I’m not bein’ like anything,” be opened the door to his room and violently hurled it inside. “You’re the one actin’ like some prudish little nerd twat.”  
    “P-Prudish…?!” _  
_     “Yeah, you’re stringin’ me along, Donnie. Do ya want me or not? Oh, wait,” he paused sarcastically, “I already know the answer. You just aren’t man enough to admit it…”  
    _“M-Man…?!”_ He glanced around to verify they were alone and then lowered his voice to a hiss. “We are _brothers_ , Raph! And I have a girl I like! Or have you forgotten those minor details?!”  
    “…You weren’t thinking about either of those things a minute ago.”  
    Donnie had no reply to that.  
    Raph’s eyes narrowed venomously. “You don’t have an injury on the inside of your thigh. The only reason you wanted me there was so you could keep me between your legs.”  
    Donnie just gawked, not quite believing what he was hearing. “I-I… do so have an…!”  
    Raph threw him into the wall, his eyes sharp as daggers. He grabbed the bandage on his thigh and ripped it off to dangle it in front of his face. Donatello winced and gritted his teeth uncomfortably under Raph’s anger driven strength.  
    “ _That_ is a scratch… paper cut worthy at best…” he growled. He pushed up into him leaning in mockingly to his ear. “How’s your sleep?”  
    Donnie shoved him away. “S-Stop it!”  
    Raph just glared.  
    “..…Shell tease.”  
    Donnie’s eyes widened and he sidestepped through his door, slamming it hard in Raphael’s face and Raph called a little bit louder:   
    “You’re a shell tease Donnie!”  
     Donnie opened the door. “Do you want the whole lair to hear?!” he hissed.  
    “Maybe I do,” he cracked. Of course he didn’t really. Raph was just looking to rile Donnie up to his level. It didn’t matter if it turned into an all-out fight, as long as it went somewhere—because anywhere was better than where they were.  
     And now Donnie glared daggers at him. “Get away from me Raph.” He tried to slam the door but Raph caught it and shoved it back, stalking dangerously into his room.  
    “I ain’t gonna just sit around and have you drivin’ me crazy... like I’m in the wrong, when you and I are in the exact same boat! You want me… and I want you… why is that so hard to admit?!”  
     Donnie faltered in his step, feeling that heat rise again in his face as he glared back at his brother. “M-Maybe you want me… but… I-I want to be left alone.”  
    “…No ya don’t.” He leaned in and his voice grew low. “Ya can’t eat… Ya can’t sleep…”   
    Donnie’s eyes panned away.   
    “ _See?!_ Ya can’t even look at me! You’re in the _exact_ same state as me!” He grabbed him by the wrist to show him the burns still healing over his fingertips. “Look! Ya even burnt your hand!”  
    Donnie yanked out of his touch. “F-fixing the Shellraiser!” he snapped. “It has nothing to do with anything!”  
    “Yeah? Since when are you ever that careless?”  
    "Since..." Donnie swallowed, trapped again without an answer.  
     ……And then Raph’s demeanor suddenly changed. The toughest of all the brothers shifted uncomfortably on his heels, rubbing the back of his neck the way he did when he was truly nervous.   
    “…I… _can_ be romantic, Donnie,” he grumbled.  
    Donnie’s entire mind screeched to a halt, his ocher eyes wide. Did he just seriously say that?  
    Surely he had misheard…  
    “R-R-Raph…”  
    Said older turtle suddenly snatched his brother’s hand tight in his fist, so much so that it was painful for Donnie and he winced in pain.   
    Then Donnie watched as his fingers were pulled violently to Raph’s lips. He mentally yelped at the feel of his lips pressing gently against his injuries. And those eyes burnt deeply into him, locking his whole heart down.   
    “C’mon Don…” His voice wrenched at his insides.  
    “…Do you even realize what you’re asking of me?” Donnie finally murmured, “B-Because I-I’m not quite sure I… do…” His voice trailed off, drying up in his throat.  
    “…No,” Raph swallowed honestly. “…I _don’t_ know—but I’m startin’ to figure it out.”  
     Donnie looked up at him.  
    And the words just came tumbling out of his mouth. “I want you….. I don’t know why ‘n I can’t explain it… I just…. I know I do, okay?”  
    His voice was so gentle. Donnie’s knees threatened to buckle beneath him. “W-Why me?”  
    “I just said I don’t know why… okay?! I just…”  
    Suddenly they heard a sound. Something was approaching, making its way down the hallway. And a shadow grew across the floor outside. Donnie gasped in panic and quickly grabbed Raphael by the face, shoving him hard under his table just as the shadow made its way into his room.  
    “My son…?”  
    Donnie spun around clumsily now face to face with his father.   
    _“Y-Y-Y-Yes Sensei?!”_  
   Master Splinter blinked, a bit perplexed by how startled he seemed.   
    “…Where is Raphael?” he finally asked.  
    “Um… I… I don’t know… I-In his room I guess? Yeah… h-he went to bed just a little bit ago after he dressed my wounds.”  
    Sensei’s wise eyes washed over his son. Something was definitely off about his behavior. He was stiff as a board and he looked almost feverish.   
    “Are you feeling alright?” he asked, concerned.  
    “Hai Sensei!”  
    Master Splinter figured he was lying, but it was also clear he did not want to be disturbed and he turned around to leave, taking one last worried glance back. “…You would do well to get some rest yourself.”  
    “Hai Sensei.”  
    He lingered a moment more, almost as though trying to sense the trouble with his son but decided to put it to rest. Whatever it was, it was probably a subject best left alone for the night to configure and so he bid his son:   
    “…Goodnight.”  
    Donnie said goodnight to his father and he watched him silently pass again through the door.  
    The second he left, Raph rose sneakily up from his hiding place.  
     “Actually… one more thing…”   
    Their eyes widened at hearing their father’s voice and Raph quickly ducked back down, as Master Splinter stood again beneath the door.  
    “If you see Michelangelo get up in the middle of the night, be sure he does not touch his shell,” he told him.  
     “I’ll… try my best,” Donnie affirmed and with that, his father disappeared to retire for the night. Donnie heaved a sigh and he turned back to find his brother standing there tall behind his experiment table.  
    His eyes instantly fled to the floor. “L-Look, Raph… W-We can talk about this later. Y-You should head back to your room… It’s _really_ late and…”   
    He caught those piercing eyes, only for an instant but it was enough to make his face run hot but he continued firmly.   
    “I-I won’t forget what you said. I’ll think about it okay? Just… not anymore tonight, please?”  
     Raph thought that over. “…Fine,” he agreed. That was probably the best response he was going to hear all night.  
    He’d think about it. That was good.   
    Raph nodded. “....G’night Donnie.” And with those parting words, Raph briskly walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him…  
    And Donnie was left alone with his own choked out: “…Goodnight.”


	8. Troubled Minds

**\--Chapter 8: Troubled Minds  
**  
    Donnie’s head was spinning. Why was Raph so adamant about this? It was like he didn’t _care_ about the consequences or that Sensei _hadn’t_ come in and interrupted… whatever that was. His hands tightened into fists. Raphael was his brother! This was weird, disgusting… and… and wrong! Someone would find out. Sensei almost did. His heart fluttered and he cursed his weak body. He had other things he should be thinking about… like finding a new retro-mutagen… finding Metaldroid… There was no way he could let his brothers come to harm again like they had tonight. Not if he could help it. He should be inventing something right now, something that would help aid them to defeat it, or at the very least keep them safe. …But no, instead he was standing here caught, head spinning, knees knocking because Raph…  
    … _wanted_ him. That’s what he’d said. The words turned over and over in his head, turning him inside out. He shouldn’t be thinking about this.  
    …Raph had been so gentle, almost uncharacteristically so.  
    What was he supposed to do?   
    …..Maybe he just needed sleep tonight… try not to think of Raph. The last thing he needed were any more dreams about him.  
\--  
    Raph rounded the corner of the hall towards his bedroom when he heard a strange wisping sound, almost as though something were crawling behind him and he froze to listen.   
    Nothing. Perhaps he was imagining things. He took another few steps towards his room and and he heard it again, a tiny almost scurrying sound. Raph’s eyes hardened and he pulled his sai out from dangerously from behind him.  
    “Show yourself,” he growled.  
    But again his calls were answered by silence. Then it became a low whir right behind his ear and from the corner of his eye he saw a flash of red light and a piece of his red mask fell limply to the floor. Raphael leapt to one side and dashed over to the light switch, throwing it on.   
    But no one was there. The warm light washed over his home and everything was as it should be. His bright emerald eyes flickered over every detail of the room, making sure everything was in place. The sink dripped in the kitchen beside the can opener, the wires on the game counsel hung haphazardly from the television from Mikey’s last game.  
    There was even a bit of gauze dressing beside the couch from when he had dressed Donnie’s wounds.   
    Raph then checked beneath the couch on hands and knees, scanning his home for any sign he wasn’t alone. Finally he picked up the cut piece of red fabric from the floor.   
    “Show yourself!” he challenged again.  
    But still nothing was there.  
    The longer he waited the more tired he became. He tried to relax a little as he flicked off the lights, but he just couldn’t. _Something_ had cut his mask. Something just had to be there.  
    How was nothing there?  
    …Raphael took in one last backwards glance. Master Splinter always told him to be alert, but he also warned him that sometimes the mind could play tricks on you especially in the shadows and Raph turned around and headed back to his room. He shut the door and threw the torn piece of mask aside. He had to get some sleep. He had no time to be paranoid. Raph turned the lock on his bedroom door, pausing one more time to listen for any sounds, but only the hollow night sounds of the sewers answered him back.   
    It was time for him to think of other things. Things that didn’t have to do with creepy crawly stuff in the sewer or the way Donnie had looked at him…  
    No, he _definitely_ shouldn’t be thinking about that. Nope… Now was time to think of _other_ important things like how he would kick Metaldroid’s ass tomorrow.  
    He SO would too. He swore it. He was going to rip every one of those sorry tentacles straight from its body and tear him a new one. No one would even know what it had looked like before, he’d wreck it so bad… and then he’d go after whoever the asshole was that was behind it. It was probably Baxten Stockbreath or whatever his name was.   
    Fuck that guy. He oughta stab him in the face too. That’d teach ‘im.   
    Such violent thoughts eased his mind and soon had lulled him asleep.  
\--  
  _Scritch…. Scritch. Scriiiiiiiiiitch._  
    Raph stirred.  
     _Scritch scritch scritch…_  
    It was a terrible sound, like nails being dragged painfully over concrete and steel.  
    Raph tossed restlessly in his bed, but the sound continued to rake against his sense and finally he just couldn’t ignore it anymore. He rolled out of bed, lumbering angrily towards the door and threw it open.   
    “WHAT?!” he roared.  
    Nothing. Everything was empty and quiet. He looked left and right down the dark empty tunnels but no one was there.   
    “I must be goin’ insane…” He slammed the door and dragged his feet angrily back to bed when he heard the blood curdling scream of who could only be Michelangelo.   
    Jolting instantly awake, Raphael bolted down the hall to his bedroom and heaved the door open. “MIKEY!”  
    Leo and Donnie were right in tow, throwing the light on behind him.   
    Their youngest brother was curled up in a fetal position at the front of his bed, holding his skull, his normally bright blue eyes struck wide with terror.  
    “Mikey!” They instantly scrambled to his side.   
    “What’s wrong? What happened?!” Raph rushed.  
    Mikey was positively shaking with fright, as he lifted his eyes to his big brother’s. “I thought you said there weren’t any monsters in my room or under my bed!” He looked almost as though he were about ready to cry.  
    Raph lifted the hand that was firmly plastered to his head, and saw a huge cut, running with blood, and another fresh gash on his arm.   
    “Tell us what happened,” Leo said.  
    “Donnie’s right! There really is somethin’ in the sewers! And it tried to saw my arm off! And then my HEAD! And… my head is one thing but I really really _really_ need my arm for stuff!”  
    “My sons what is wrong?!”  
    Leonardo turned to their father in the doorway. “Something attacked Mikey in his sleep!”  
    Mikey gripped his sheets to his chest as he told his tale. “It had red eyes… and… it was crawling all over my ceiling… and under my bed… and over my comic books… and then... all over my…”  
    “Mikey! Stay focused!” Raph said impatiently.  
    “And then it, like, dangled from the ceiling like a spider and tried to saw me in half!”  
    Leo and Donnie both began scanning the room carefully for the monster, or anything that looked remotely out of place.   
    The problem with that was everything in Michelangelo’s room looked out of place. He rarely ever cleaned. It was like playing a brain-straining game of I-Spy. Leonardo could have sworn he saw that same pizza slice hanging from his radio a month ago.   
But there were obvious slash marks—huge ones that ran over the ceilings and floor. It had cut through everything from concrete to comic books and anything else that had gotten in its way.  
    “Do ya think it could have been Metaldroid?” Raph asked him seriously.  
    “I thought Metaldroid was bigger…” Mikey muttered and he turned to Sensei, his voice rising to a squeak. “I’m freakin’ out.”  
    Donnie studied the long abrasions on the floor. “The marks are exactly the same as Metaldroid’s,” he confirmed.  
    Leo followed a set of particularly large marks that ripped through the ceiling and had splintered through the doorframe. The ninja’s eyes narrowed and he walked further to investigate, discovering sure enough the gauges continued outside the room and down the hallway.     From over his shoulder, Donnie saw it too.   
    “It could… still be here somewhere,” he fretted.  
    Leo unsheathed his swords from his back and stood battle ready, scanning the hall. Whatever it was, it was there, threatening them and he was going to find it now before it hurt any one of his brothers again. Donnie was about to go after him but he looked back over to Mikey.  
    He had his knees pulled up to his chest and Raph wrapped his arm around him to comfort him. “It’s alright,” he assured, his teeth gritting in rage at whatever had hurt him.  
    Donnie put a kind hand on his shoulder.  
    “I’ll stay with Mikey, you go with Leo,” he said firmly.  
    Raph didn’t need to be told twice. That was where he wanted to be in the first place. He nodded once and briskly went off to catch up with Leo.  
     Donnie watched him go and Master Splinter turned to him.   
    “You go too,” he ordered. “Keep an eye on your brothers…. I will stay here in case it comes back.”  
    Donnie nodded. Master Splinter was the safest place for him to be anyway.   
    “I’ll be right back,” he promised Mikey and then he too, ran off to join the hunt.  
    It wasn’t until he had made his way deep into the hallway and turned the corner that the lights suddenly went out.   
    _'As if tonight couldn’t get any worse.'_  
    Donnie gripped his staff tightly, his brown eyes searching the darkness, listening for any sign that his brothers were close.   
    “Guys…?! R-Raph? Leo?”  
    Strange drips and echoed and bounced back at him down the narrow halls. Little odd lights shimmered in and out, casting strange shadows over the waters, but Donnie trudged through.  
    Every little noise was a potential sound of danger. It almost seemed to mock him.  
    “I’m not saying I’m scared or anything but this is kind of _really freaking me out!_ …T-The back-up generator should have kicked in…”  
    Then he heard a sick, growling sound from behind him and he whirled around, staff ready. “…Guys…?” he called.  
    But all he could hear was his own heart pounding in his chest and he turned, running for the main entrance, relieved to see the dark shapes of the main room. He searched around wildly, calling out to his brothers even louder.   
    “LEO, RAPH WHERE ARE YOU?!”  
    And then he felt his scales stand on end. He turned his head and there was what he could only describe as a shadowy figure with deep-set red, glowing eyes, cogs in its mouth, drooling something green and sick.  
    Donatello froze in terror. But instead of attacking, the creature stayed perfectly still, narrowing its sinister eyes and then it disappeared into the shadows as though it were never there.   
    Donnie shook in his shell, the dim back-up lights of his lab revealing something that made his eyes go wide.   
    His last canister of mutagen lay broken on the floor, smeared into a set of deep horrible scratch marks.


	9. House Arrested

**\--Chapter 9  House Arrested**  
  
    “Oh no…” Donnie murmured, “no, no no no no. This is bad. This is _so_ bad. Why does this always _happen_?!”  
    He heard a clunk echo down one of the halls and he froze again, the familiar drip mocking him back.   
    And then he heard a yell.  It was Leo’s yell.  
    “YAAAAUGGH!”  
    “Leo!” Donnie ran blindly towards it as fast as he could, rounding first one corner and then another before he came to a huge fork in the sewers. Donatello looked between each of the tunnels, trying to figure out which one to go through. Then, thinking he heard a sound coming from the first tunnel to his right, he decided to take that one.   
    He pulled out his T-phone out of his belt and began to dial, hoping beyond all hope his brother would answer, still running as fast as he could.  
    _“Come on… come on pick up…”_ he begged beneath his breath.   
    But the phone only humored him with a few empty rings before he was faced with Leonardo’s voicemail. A sick panic settled in his gut. If Donnie could run faster, he did. The shadows blurred and his lungs started to burn but he didn’t care. He rounded another corner and then suddenly crashed hard, having run head-on into someone with a force that knocked them both down.  
                "OOF!"         "Oww!"     "...Huh?”   
    They both shook off the disorientation.  
    “Raph?”  
    “Donnie?”  
    “Where’s Leo?!” They spoke wildly in tandem. “I thought he was with you!”  
    “Why would he be with _me_?!” Donnie wailed.  
    A strange, sick sound echoed down a nearby hall and they instantly tensed until they thought they were in the clear and Donnie spoke wildly in panic.  
    “We’ve got to find him! Right. NOW! …Metaldroid got into the mutagen!”  
    Raph’s eyes widened. _“What?!”_  
    “He found the last canister in my lab and he DRANK IT! We have to find him!” A low churning sound interrupted him that sent a chill down their shells.  “…Preferably BEFORE we are all torn limb from limb!” he finished.  
    Raphael’s eyes strained to see around him, the reality of the dangerous situation they were in now settled into his skin.  
    And then they heard a grumbling roar.  
    “This way,” Raph tugged Donnie by the wrist and he led them down the opposite hall, their feet clicking against the pavement. They took cover around the second corner.  
    Donnie gripped his phone tight, his fingers working fast as they could as he continued to run. “Leo isn’t answering his phone,” he muttered, putting it again to his ear. “He can’t handle Metaldroid with his injury! What am I saying? _None_ of us can handle him! Metaldroid’s probably mutating by the second… and we literately can’t see _anything_!”   
    Donnie paused to look at Raph and his blood went cold, catching the flash of a chainsaw right behind him… then another movement of shadow just out of the corner of his eye.  
    “…I am FREAKING OUT!”  
    “YEAH AND YOU’RE FREAKIN’ ME OUT!” Raph roared back.  
    _Crrrrreeeeeeeaaak_  
    They paused and a gross slithering noise travel across the floor that thoroughly made Raph’s scales crawl. Then there was the sound of a stranger's breathing and paranoia burrowed cruelly into their brains. Donnie set his staff to fight, executing empty strikes in the air before one of them accidently struck Raph.  
     _“OW!_ ”  
    “Yaaaagh!” Donnie wailed, leaping back.  
    That was the last straw. Raph gritted his teeth and clobbered his brother hard over the shoulder.  
    “Calm your shell before I slap the green off of ya! I ain’t gonna let that thing kill us!” He grabbed Donnie by the shoulders and shook him. “Now use your head!”  
    “Okay… um…” Donnie paused, scanning his brain hard for a plan. “Uh... the main room. We’ll go stealth… and make our way to the main room…”  
    “….That’s your plan?!”  
    “Do you have any BETTER ONES?!” he challenged.  
     _Clank… clank.clank.clank clank._  
    “Nope!” Raph yanked Donnie by the hand and led him down what he felt would be the safest hallway, then he threw him against the wall, peeking around the corner to listen.  
_“Will you let go of my hand?”_ Donnie hissed.   
    Raph smushed a large hand over his mouth to keep him quiet, keeping his ears trained for anything that could possibly be Leo or the monster. Once Raph decided the coast was clear, he grabbed Donnie's hand again and they continued; heads low and ready for anything.  
    Still Donnie glared uncomfortably at their hands. He was _not_ incapable of taking care of himself.  
    They ducked down another corner and then Raph shoved him into the wall again.  
    “Oof! Ugh! ...Raph, I can take care of myself!” Donnie scolded.  
    Raph turned and glared at him harshly. “You think I don’t know that?!”   
    Even through the thick darkness Donnie could see the turbulent look in his eyes.   
    “In case you haven’t noticed, Mikey nearly got his shell split open again tonight and Leo’s somewhere out there by himself with that hole in his arm! And it’s my fault we all got separated! So excuse me if I don’t wanna lose you too!”  
    That set Donnie back into perspective a little. “…I’m sorry Raph, you’re right.”   
    He had been selfish. The only thing he had been thinking about was their hands… and how thrown he felt about the two of them. But now was not the time for that, not when their home was under attack. He squeezed Raph’s hand back firmly.   
    “Come on, let’s go find Leo.”  
\--  
\--  
    His breath was louder than anything else, but he could still hear it. The sounds echoed and bounced off of every one of his senses. Metaldroid was close.  He just had to pin point exactly where it was and take it down before it even had a chance to strike.   
    Leonardo clenched his hands around the hilts of his blades and internally winced. If he fought, he’d probably end up popping all of his stitches or re-opening the wound altogether, but he would just have to deal. No gash in his arm was going to stop him from protecting his family.  
    He closed his eyes.   
  _…..Sense your opponent._  
    Leonardo spun around; sweeping his katana low to the ground to trip his enemy, but it was an empty strike.   
    He was still alone. And so again he listened.   
    There was something scurrying behind him across the floor.  
    Leonardo barely had time to process what it was before he was blindsided. A terrible force drove deep into his gut, sending him flying airborne off the floor and crashing into the wall.  
    Leo blinked and sputtered for air, trying quick gain his bearings. When he did, a mess of tentacles came slithering at him through the dark. He could hear the hum above his heartbeat, each serrated blade more gruesome than the next.  
    They somehow seemed to laugh at him.  
    His eyes widened silently from beneath his mask, and it was all the movement they needed.   
    They struck like serpents. Leonardo moved fluidly to avoid them; leaping, dodging and turning flips, slicing tentacles clean in two.  
    The creature reared back and screamed in pain, a high pitched, terrible noise, and it staggered forward into the light.   
    Leo gawked at his enemy. It stood probably twenty feet tall, glowering down at him with blood- speckled red eyes. It dragged its sharp claws across the floor, catching silver in the light. The strange beast hunched over Leonardo, a mutated mess of ooze and gears, sprockets and small parts.  
    And the look in its eyes spelled hatred.  
    It raised one of its severed limbs up to Leonardo’s face so he could watch as it gurgled and split apart, growing three more horrible blades in its place.  
    And from the floor, the blade he had cut down before rose up clumsily on spindly legs, just like the small chainsaw spiders that had attacked him before. It squeaked and scurried across the floor, disappearing out into the lair. Leo raised his eyes and his enemy hissed angrily, showing off the dirty cogs and mechanisms that made up the back of its throat.  
    Leonardo made no sudden movements, very slowly dropping his stance. And he raised his swords up, only to wince at the sharp pain it caused.  
   The tentacles slithered across the floor like snakes to the hunt, their eyes set on their prey.  
   Leo knew he was going to need back up. He reached into his belt pocket for his T-phone, only to find it wasn’t there.   
   He must have left it in his bedroom. And there was no time to dwell on it now.  
   He was surrounded. And so his eyes set to fight.  
   He would have to hold his own for now.  
\--  
\--  
    Raphael strained his eyes through the frustrating dark, wondering where the heck they were. Donnie had led them in a weird direction but he hadn’t exactly clued him in on where they were going or what his plan was. He was pretty sure they were somewhere in the garage, but it was just too dark to tell.   
_“Is this the garage?”_ he hissed.  
 _“Yes.”  
    “…Why are we in the garage?”_  
_“Because I might have some tools that will help us,”_ Donnie whispered back. His hands fumbled around blindly over his work bench. He knew he had a flashlight lying around here somewhere…  
    Finally his efforts were rewarded, feeling the familiar plastic in his hand. He quickly clicked the button, smiling at the welcoming stream of light in his hand and he gave it to Raph.  
    “Here,” he ordered. “Look for the generator. See if you can’t switch it back on.”  
    Raph obediently did as he was told, running his thick green fingers over the stale switches, flipping them all forward and back again. The old florescent lights overhead replied, flickering and groaning back to life, and bright light filled the expanse of the room.  
    “You did it!” Donnie beamed.  
    No sooner had the words of praised left his mouth, than the lights kicked out, and the two were left in the dark again.  
    “What…?” Donnie took the flashlight from Raph’s hand, looking over the machine to figure out what could have possibly gone wrong.  
    It wasn’t difficult to see what it was. One last tiny spark zapped its way from a strange gauge that Donnie noted had strategically sliced all the way through the power core.  
    By a chainsaw.  
    “It’s… _intelligent_ … ” he muttered. Donnie moved the beam of light over the cabinets across the room, briskly moving and handing the flashlight back over to Raph so his hands were free.   
    “I can try creating a solution to maybe make it rust but I have no idea what kind of metal we’re dealing with! It definitely wasn’t copper, but it still could be anything from iron to steel, to… something else entirely! Iron is easy to take down but stainless steel is damn near impossible,” he rubbed his eyes sleepily.  
    Raph blinked. That was the first time he’d ever really heard Donnie curse. He almost wondered if he had heard right.   
    “Did you just swear?”  
    “ _Yes_ , I just swore!” he snapped. “I’m at my wits end! I haven’t slept in _nights_!”  
    Raph winced a little at the pang of guilt that surged through his chest, knowing full well it was his fault and Donnie noticed the change in his demeanor.  
    “I… haven’t slept for a number of reasons…” he amended quickly and he continued to dig around. “Ah ha!” he picked up a bottle and brought it up to the light, squinting hard over the fine print on the label.   
    “I’ve got a just a little bit left… ummmm… You know what, we’ll wing it.” He gathered several more items from the shelf and tossed them carelessly into a small bucket, now rifling through another table and he was delighted with what he found.  
    “I can’t believe I left these in here!” He turned around to show Raph the bulkiest and strangest head contraption he had ever seen. Before he even explained what it was, Donnie had run back over to him and was already strapping it around Raph’s head.   
    “Hey! What the heck are these?!” he demanded.  
    “They double as both night _and_ thermal vision goggles,” he answered proudly. “It’ll make navigating through the lair much easier. You’ll be able to see in the dark and locate anything in the lair with a pulse.”  
    “…It feels bulky and nerdy.”  
    “Yeah well deal with it,” Donnie replied, and he picked up the mutagen detector, turning it on and adjusting the screen. “I’ve got to find Muta-droid.”  
    Both of them stopped and turned, eyes widened at one another.   
    “Please don’t tell Mikey I named it,” he begged. There was no way he could live down a second Mikey offense.  
    And then the two heard a strange sound swelling up from down the hall. It was almost like a chattering.  
    _ChickaChickaChickaChickaChicka_  
    Then it grew closer, eerily close and the two quick ducked down behind the table to hide. Raphael adjusted the goggles to see as a small chainsaw on spindly legs skittered its way into the room. It looked right, then left, as though trying to detect them. Raph and Donnie both held their breath, staying breathlessly still until the creature lost interest and finally crawled away.  
    The two let out their breath in a rush.  
    “What are those?” Donnie wondered.  
    “They’re the tiny chainsaw bug things that attacked Leo earlier. They came from Metaldroid,” Raph whispered back but his answer was only half heard by Donnie, drowned out about by the terrible chattering swelling even higher down the halls.   
    Louder and louder. It echoed off of everything, screeching against their ears like a million tiny angry bats and they clasped their ears tight against the terrible sound.  
    And from beyond the garage door, they came. A blurring sea of the tiny chainsaws swept up through the hall like an angry plague of locusts.  
    Raph and Donnie watched in numb awe until another one stopped in the doorway curiously, seeming to stare right at them, and then it skittered into the garage, leading others to follow suit.  
    “Sewer spit,” Raph cursed and he leapt to his feet, his sai clasped tight in his fists.  
    “The backdoor,” Donnie said, “… RUN!”  
    And they two bolted for the back door, running as fast as they possibly could, Donnie with his bucket right tow. And the chainbugs followed them.  
    They turned the corner, backs to the wall until they came to the door, only barely beating another mass of the steel-bearing insects to the punch.   
    They only had a narrow window of escape and Donnie seized it. “This way!” he ordered and he bolted down the corridor, finding the familiar stretch to their living room beneath his feet and they continued to run, their tiny enemies chattered relentlessly at their heels.   
    Donnie looked at the mutagen detector. “At this rate we should be…”   
    Donnie’s words died instantly on his tongue and Raph’s eyes widened on the scene.  
    Their living room—their home—was in shambles.   
    Chainsaws scampered, ripped and shred everything they had, crawling up from the walls and crannies in the ceiling… They tore through their game systems and belongings, took their food… eating everything like termites, still chattering to each other in that deafening noise.  
    “…Holy mackerel,” Donnie murmured.


	10. Bloodlust and Wooden Spoons

**Chapter 10 Bloodlust and Wooden Spoons**  
  
 _ChickaChickaChickaChickaChickaChickaChicka_  
    It was such an awful noise. They could literately feel it in their skin, grating through their temples. But still all they could do was stand there, watching numbly as everything they loved and cared about was shredded to pieces right in front of them.  
    Leo’s comics…  
    Mikey’s game counsel…  
    Even the Kraang’s invasion hadn’t caused this much damage.  
    A hot anger shot down through Raph’s knuckles, clenching around his sai, but what could he do? What could _either of them_ do? Trying to fight all of these things at once was a fool’s errand.  
    But they _had_ to do _something_.  
    “…. _Now_ what?” Raph growled darkly.  
    Donatello’s eyes fixed out into the plague. Then they hardened with a determination that wasn’t there before and he got to work, strategically rummaging through his bucket of things. He measured, poured, mixed and muttered, his mind dancing fluidly through equations and calculations.  
    “What are ya doin’?”  
    “I didn’t bring all this stuff with us for nothing,” he replied coolly.  
    Then Raph heard a small chirping sound and the clitter-clattering of little chainsaw feet on the floor. One of the little creatures had stalked over and paused in front of him like a predator in wait.   
    It seemed to be studying him; its little chainsaw raised and cocked curiously to the side.  
    Raph wrinkled his nose.   
    If Leo were here, he’d probably think it was cute.  
    It finally occurred to Raph then what exactly it was about these things that bothered him so much.  
    They were just a little bit too much like cockroaches for his liking.  
    The creature curved two of its spindly legs slowly up towards him and Raph decided then and there it needed to die. His eyes set and he raised his sai to strike when the tiny blade whirred suddenly to life, scurrying away in a different direction.  
    Raph’s eyes widened, realizing the direction it had gone. “Don—!”  
 _Crunch._  
    He had barely gotten his name out before the bug was crushed dead beneath the weight of his brother’s staff. Donnie had barely seemed to give it a second glance as though he had known it had been there all along, continuing his task without missing a beat.   
    “Have you picked up on any unusual points of infrared energy within the lair?”  
    Raph blinked. “Ifra- what?”  
    “…Infrared energy?” he asked again.  
    Raph stared unamused, waiting patiently for his brother to stop speaking Nerd. It wasn’t exactly a language he was fluent in.  
    Donnie looked up, raising an eyebrow and tapped his forehead. “ _The goggles?_ …The ones I specifically set to detect infrared energy waves…?”   
    “…”  
    Donnie rolled his eyes impatiently. _“Thermal_ energy!”  
    “See, that’s the kind of English that would’ve been useful in the first place.” Raph adjusted the contraption on his head and turned the lens a quarter to the left, the same way Donnie had done and he took a look around the room.   
_“Woah!”_ He had to admit, it all looked wicked awesome, like the whole lair was tie-dyed and set to psychedelic negative.  
    “Okay, how does their heat signature look?” Donnie asked. “Are we talkin’ reds and yellows or really dark colors?”  
    “Uhh both. The chainsaws ‘re really bright and the rest are kinda in-between darkish colors,” he observed. “The legs are dark too.”  
    Donnie looked down at the bug he had squished, processing it all in his head. “…And you said these things just _came off_ of Mutadroid?”  
    “Yeah…”  
    Donnie mulled that over and then got up, pressing himself cheek to cheek against Raphael, adjusting the lens so he could take a peek himself.  
    The heat signature was indeed just as Raph had described. And he turned and gaped at him.  
    “…Do you realize what this means?!”  
    “No, but I’m pretty sure you’re about to tell me...”  
    “It _means_ that Mutadroid is so advanced he can regenerate entire cybernetic organisms that just… _fall off_ its body! And by its own free will! For all we know these… _chainbugs_ could be collecting data for it! They’re both living _and_ robot…”  
    The new information pooled into his mind and Raph took a look around the room with new light.  
    Suddenly the random movements didn’t look so random anymore and he took an uncomfortable step back.   
    “Well, that’s not creepy at all.”  
    “It’s completely horrifying, actually,” Donnie replied matter-of-factly, his attention back into his concoction. He filled one of his test tubes and raised it high up to the light. He gave it a little shake, squinting hard at the small fizzling reaction within.  
    “Can ya get rid of ‘em?”  
    “Well, we’ll see, I… OW!” Donnie suddenly recoiled and winced, staring at the tip of his finger, a small droplet of blood welling up to the top.  
    “What happened?”  
    “I…. must have cut myself on the…. lid…” His voice trailed off.  
    Suddenly everything stopped. The room stopped. The chattering stopped. It was as if the whole world froze on its axis just to stare at them.  
    Raph could hear his own breath over white noise. And the little chainsaw bugs suddenly had eyes. They lit up red in the dark, spreading across the entire room until it was nothing but a thousand tiny glowing eyes.  
    Each one of them were locked on the prick of Donnie’s finger.  
    Then they moved. It was uniform, calm, collected, dangerous, the chattering slowly wrecking the silence, rising once more until it screeched in their ears.  
    Donnie immediately jumped back to work, hastening to finish before they reached them.  
    But they were moving quick.  
    “Donnie…. work faster…!” Raph barked nervously above the noise as they moved closer and closer, crowding them in.  
    “I’m trying!” Donnie promised. But his hands just couldn’t seem to move fast enough and Donnie wasn’t one who worked well under pressure.  
    Raph gripped his sai in his hands as they pooled into their space, zeroing in fast on Donnie. Raph jumped to his aid, doing his best to push a few back, if only to buy time as Donnie continued to work. A few of the bugs found their way up his sai, scurrying up the side of Raph’s arm. Raph jumped back, violently trying to shake them off.  
    “Donnie… I officially say we forget about your plan and torch the place!” he yelled.  
    “We can’t do that! Leo’s in there somewhere!” His mind was so busy caught up in finishing his creation, he had spared no attention to the chainbugs or their daunting approach. Chainsaws whirred and raised high, dangerously close, ready to burrow right into his skin.   
    Raph saw it only just in the nick of time and he dove over, yanking Donnie back by the collar of his shell, just as he put the last touch on his chemical weapon.  
    “HA!” He threw his makeshift grenade into the buzzing sea, watching it shatter as it hit the floor. Noxious-looking yellow gas billowed from the floor, and the little creatures screamed in agony, suddenly struggling to move. Finally the effort was too much and they stopped moving altogether.  
    Donnie grinned victoriously. “I did it!” he cheered.  
    And then he heard a small crackling sound. It was faint at first, somewhere among the frozen chainsaws but it soon spread.   
    Their legs began to move. One by one until all of them seemed to shed away the chemical’s spell. The blades buzzed and whirred again back to life. And those tiny metal legs stalked towards them once more.  
    “…Or not….” Donnie gulped. Then he realized he had left his bucked behind and dove back to get it. Raph grabbed him again, violently yanking him back just as the parasites stormed his bucket, ravaging it through from the inside.  
    “We’ve gotta get outta here!” Raph told him.  
    Donnie stood there, in a moment of numb shock and Raph grew frustrated.  
    “Let’s…… GO! Come on!!” He dragged him away, down the stairwell, through the damp subway tracks, sprinting as fast as they could go. And their enemies followed suit.  
    “So what’s the plan now?!”  
    Raph glanced back behind at the rush of red eyes and humming blades, that terrible noise grating into the space.  
    “I _still_ say we torch the place!” Raph looked around the brick tunnels, trying to find that some kind of sub-tunnel that would lead them out, or at the very least one that would hide them and throw their enemies off course.   
    Finally he found the one he was looking for and quickly pulled Donnie inside with him, deep into the shadows of the open drainpipe.  
    The bugs hissed and screamed as they whizzed by and Donnie did not want to linger there long. He pulled them onwards towards the sewer system, stale water now sloshing at their feet.  
    Donnie paused for a moment, his eyes lingering over the rippling puddles and his mind hatched a plan.  
    “Water,” he muttered. “Raph, remember when the Squirrelenoids attacked and Mikey flushed them down the septic tanks?”  
    “Yeah…?” Raph thought about it carefully, trying to follow Donnie’s train of thought.   
    Then he grinned.  
    Donnie grinned back, knowing he understood.  
    Raph spun his sai in his hands. “Let’s drown ‘em,” he growled.  
    And then the echoing down the tunnel grew louder. They turned their eyes down the south side of the tunnel to see their little house guests had finally caught up to them. The two immediately turned tail, racing in the direction of the nearest main drains.  
    “This had BETTER WORK!”  
\--  
\--  
    “HYAA!” Leo’s kiai bellowed through the room as he sprang forth fearlessly into the fray.   
The blades hummed so close he could feel their whisper on his skin, but his mind was focused. He moved with the danger, his breath even; blue eyes sharp as steel.  
    Every move, duck and dodge _had_ to be precise.  
    His enemy was getting stronger, smarter, more agile by the second and was probably still mutating. There was no doubt that the ooze dribbling down its jaw had to be mutagen. If he didn’t think of a solid plan of attack _and soon,_ he was going to be carved out of his shell faster than he could blink.  
    But what could he do? No matter how many strikes he made, Mutadroid just regenerated. More tentacles… more blades… It was a never ending cycle.  
    He could really use Donnie’s help right now. He’d be able to think of a plan… use his scientific know-how to turn the odds in his favor….  
    He toyed with the idea of retreat to go find him, but that was too risky.  
    Darkness was its element. It was better that he had Mutadroid here in his sights. He would just have to think of something by himself.  
    The creature raised high over him, curving its long serrated claws almost proudly towards him, a gesture Leo wasn’t quite sure he understood until he saw patches of its skin began to move, as though thousands of tiny termites crawled beneath the surface.  
    The little chainsaw bugs skittered down from its body, twisting around in neat little rows down to the floor. Leo leapt to higher ground, watching as they spilled across the floor, soon spreading throughout the entire lair.  
    What would Donnie do? Or Sensei?  
    ….He needed a way lure them out of the lair, as far away from their home as possible.  
    He needed bait.   
    No sooner had the thought entered his mind when the chainsaw bugs suddenly froze, almost as if they were broken and then suddenly they were retreating to the opposite end of the lair.  
    Leo was baffled, wondering what had just occurred, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it long. Mutadroid opened its giant jaw, letting out another strange mechanical _hisssssssss._  
    Its eyes darted over him, as though memorizing, calculating something. And then they locked hard on him, cold and ready to rip him apart.  
    Leo’s mind did a quick, desperate inventory of his surroundings, trying to conjure a strategy.  
    Mutadroid took a step closer, the noise of the chainsaws blurring until they all sounded like a million angry rattlesnakes.  
    What were giant mutated chainsaw monsters attracted to? Wood?  
    They _did_ have some wooden spoons in the kitchen…  
    It was just as good an idea as any. Leo turned on his shell, racing into the kitchen and Mutadroid chased after. He grabbed Mikey’s container of wooden spoons and pulled them out, thrusting them in the direction of his enemy, his other hand hovering over his sword.  
    “You want them?” he shook them tauntingly in his hand. “Do you like these spoons?”  
    Suddenly the strange serrated hand lunged forth, snatching the spoons from Leo’s hand. He threw them into his jaws, crushing them into a mess before spitting the splinters nastily back into Leo’s face. Leo blocked the mess best he could before Mutadroid struck.  
    He fell back hard into the wall as another shot was thrown, but this time Leo dodged, spinning to his feet. When it struck a third time,     Leo was ready, catching the metal claws tight in his swords pushing back with all his strength.  
    And then from behind him, the tentacles slithered out with a teasing hiss, doubled in numbers and Leo’s eyes widened, trapped in weapon-lock. His strength was already matched. His wound was pulling and his back was against the wall….  
    Suddenly a long chain wrapped around the tentacle arms to trap them. And there was Mikey, standing on the other side of the counter, pulling the chain tight. “I’ve gotchya, Bro!” He promised. **“BOOYAKASHA!!”** He yanked hard and dealt the fiercest kick he could muster, sending Mutadroid crashing hard into their cabinets.  
    Leo caught his breath, holding his pained arm and he winced. “Nice timing!”  
    Mikey looked at the near shredded wood on floor and then returned the compliment with the most hateful glare Leo had ever seen him give.  
    “…What?”  
    “You fed it MY _SPOONS_?!?! Why would you _do_ that?!”  
    “I was trying to distract it…”  
    “With my SPOONS?!?! Those were my GOOD SPOONS, LEO!”  
    Then Metaldroid rose up from the floor, its eyes set on Michelangelo.   
    Without looking or thinking, Mikey executed a combo with his chucks, triple hitting it in the face so it crashed to the floor. “I’m not finished,” he growled.  
    Leo’s eyes widened and Mikey knelt down, gingerly picking up what was left of one of his spoons, cradling it in his arms. His bright heartbroken blue eyes blazed back to his and he raised the damage to Leo’s face.  
    “His name was _Jeffrey_. Do you know what he did, Leo? He _made_ CAKE!”   
    Mutadroid rose up from the floor again, and Mikey shot his arm back, smashing him back into the floor and he continued laying into his brother. “How are we going to make cake now?! _HUH_?!” He hugged the splintered ex-spoon to his chest like a child. “He was so young…”  
    Enraged for being ignored, Mutadroid towered over them menacingly, seeming somehow even bigger than before. Its strange red-pink eyes opened wide and it roared, tentacles buzzing like angry hornets above them.  
    Their eyes widened. “Um,” Mikey swallowed, cowering back nervously into Leo as it came close.  
    “DO NOT HARM MY SONS!” A strong, familiar voice boomed through the entire room, drawing its attention away as Master Splinter glared at the strange mechanical beast from across the room.  
    “SENSEI!” Leo and Mikey cheered in relief.  
    But it did not seem to heed his warning, turning back to Leo and Mikey, its jaw open as though to devour them and the rat leapt over, kicking him with a force that nearly broke their refrigerator.  
    “Mourn your spoons AFTER you have defeated your enemy!” he growled in frustration. Then he looked about him, searching for his other two sons. “Where are your brothers?”  
    “No clue,” Mikey answered, “but I think we have our own problems…” He pointed behind his father’s back.   
    From Mutadroid's body, a thousand of the bugs scurried their way off of his body and now took to spreading over the entire room. The mutant lifted its head up from the floor, towering over the three, its tentacles buzzed menacingly around its head, angry and ready to strike.  
     Master Splinter looked at his two injured sons, who stood ready to fight, Leonardo with one sword and an injured arms and he motioned them to wait. He leaped up to attack himself, nimbly dodging each one of the blades with an awesome speed. Then he rolled through the grabbing limbs and struck the creature hard with his cane, sending kick after kick, swift and true. The tentacles followed him and he began to run from one tentacle to another, as though they were stairs and kicked high off the ground and into the wall. He kept moving, confusing the tentacles and as they gave chase, and they began to tangle in themselves until Metaldroid was a mess of tied up limbs.  
    Master Splinter looked back. “Let us finish this!” he announced. “For our home!”  
    The two boys gladly obliged, joining their father for a last finishing kick.  
    Mutadroid seemed hardly a threat now, rolling on the floor in a helpless heap to floor, making a strange assortment of popping and clicking sounds that Leo instantly recognized as being sounds of the Kraang.   
    Then to Mikey’s horror, the creature grew began to rearrange itself on the floor, growing four strange metal legs and darting in circles across the floor.  
    “Hey get back here!” Mikey called and the three hurried to catch up to it.  
\--  
\--  
    Faster. They had to go faster. The bugs were filling the hall. Every second there were more and they much quicker than Raph or Donnie had anticipated. They had to keep running. No matter how much their muscles screamed or their lungs ached there was no faltering, no time to gasp for air.  
    There were chainsaws whirring and skittering right on their heels. One step behind meant a cut open foot. They seemed impossible to outrun but they refused to give up. The main drain wasn’t too far away now.  
    “There!” Donnie pointed to one of the tunnels and they turned left, the bugs still following suit. “Keep running!”  
    Raph tried to focus his mind as Leo often told him to do when he felt a creeping sensation up his leg and saw three of them were climbing up his shell like ants and he let out an uncharacteristic yelp of terror. Donnie fell slightly back, carefully trying to beating them back with his staff, accidently hitting Raph in the process.  
    “OW!”  
    “Sorry!” He focused again on running, as a creeping feeling made its way up his shoulder.  
    He stared right in the face of a round blade, perched on his collar with a threatening whir. Donnie let out a blood curdling shriek. Raph snapped over to his brother’s shoulder and he reacted, throwing a punch, right into the blade.  
    “AAAUGH!” It split right between his knuckles and he yanked his hand back, biting the pain back, as he clenched his fist against his chest.   
    “Are you alright?!”  
    “’M FINE!” he lied just a little too loud, trying to keep his ground and hide just how utterly painful that had been.  
    They ran harder, faster, finally gaining some ground against their enemies. But they had to find it soon. As fit as they were as ninjas, they couldn’t keep up running like this much longer.  
    “This way. We’re almost there,” Donnie tugged him westward down the tunnel and true to his word there stood the main drain in all its glory.  
    It smelled of stale water, metal and mold. The old wheel guarded the center drain lock, fixed high at the top of a short staircase. Droplets spattered on the water-worn floors, the pale light streaming overhead them from a modest sidewalk drain on the above city curb.   
They only had time to pause a moment before that eerie screaming caught up to them again.  
    “We have to hurry!” Donnie said and he ran quickly to the giant wheel as the bugs began to pour contagiously into the room. Raph turned to face them head-on at the door, trying to beat a few off to buy a little time while Donnie opened the hatch.  
    The giant wheel felt cold and unkind, stubborn with mildew and rust. He pushed with all strength in his body to turn it left but it wouldn’t budge, not even an inch.   
    “I can’t open it!” he called.  
    “Try harder!”  
    “Hnnnnn _NNGH_!” His voice strained as hard he did, pushing it with all of his weight but it just no use. “Raph I can’t do it! It’s stuck!”  
    Raph gritted his teeth, letting out a battle cry as he succeeded in skewering several of the bugs at once violently with his sai. Then he throwing one of the smoke-bombs from his belt, hauling shell up the staircase.  
    But the smoke-bomb only worked on so many and as Raph mounted the stairs, they caught up to him. His next step came down right on one of the chainsaws blade, sawing right into the center of his foot.  
    Raph yelled in pain but he didn’t stop, staggering up to the vault, his blood-soaked footprints following behind. He grabbed hold of the wheel and cranked it, both he and Donnie together with all the strength they could muster.  
    “Come……. _On_ ……. We can…. DO THIS!”  
    And with a great reluctant groan, it turned a millimeter to the left.  
\--  
\--   
    A metal limb aimed right for Leo’s throat and he ducked, rolling skillfully to his feet, back-flipping to avoid three bladed strikes to his shell, then he turned, facing them with his blades.  
     “WAKA-TAKA-WATOOTWAHHH!” Mikey’s ridiculous battle-cry confused it as he leapt to one of the ceiling beams and he threw his kusarigama chain around its tentacle arms, tugging them tight.  
    The metal monster glared and yanked the chain back hard, dragging Michelangelo with him, falling screaming towards the mess of blades below.  
    Master Splinter dove in for the sake of his son, grabbing hold of him and rolling him safely out of harm’s way, but it came at a price. He immediately winced, grasping his shoulder, realizing he had been cut in his left shoulder. But Sensei was strong. There was no time to dwell on the pain and when another blade came spinning fast for their heads he grabbed hold of the arms, fluidly striking and throwing them to the floor.  
  _TINK... TINK... TINK!_ Leo’s katana raised above his head as it struck. He was now completely on defense, waiting for his chance to strike. Those unkind spinning edges locked against his, the metal grating and whining against his. Leo gritted his teeth and pushed back, slicing every one of those tentacles to the floor.   
    And Metaldroid regenerated again.  
    “How are we supposed to take it down? A-AA _AAAGH_!” Suddenly one of the metal claws wrapped around his skull and throat, throwing him harshly into the wall. Leo kicked and sputtered, desperately reaching for his father. “S-SENSEI!”  
    Mikey’s eyes widened. “LEO!” He moved to help him but he couldn’t even take a step. He was completely surrounded, back to back with his father, a thousand blades whirring in their ears. Mikey looked for any kind of opening, but there was none and that fear settled in his shell.   
    “What do we do now?!”  
    The whirring picked up speed, edging dangerously close to his skin.  
    Mikey’s voice curdled in his throat so tight he couldn’t breathe.   
    This was the end…  
_ShhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH_  
    The sound rushed through the halls, echoing and bouncing off of everything, growing louder and louder, until it made the whole place rumble.   
    Mutadroid even paused, its strange eyes scanning for the source of the sound.  
    And from in its sharp clutches, Leonardo could feel the ground begin to shake, then the walls… a breath of cool air passed through their skin.   
_SHHHHHHHHHH **HHHHHHHHHH!**_  
    Eyes panned over in wait and from around the corner a wall of water came tumbling through the subway station, crashing through brick and steel, rushing right towards them. They barely had time to blink before the force seized the room, hurling them all into the unforgiving waves.  
    Master Splinter quickly held fast to one of the ceiling beams as they passed by, trying to pull himself out of the way of the raging current.  
    Leonardo was pulled under, thrown around like a ragdoll until he found a passing ceiling pipe to grab onto, but he could barely hang on. He fought against the waves, his lungs burning in his shell for air. Finally he found the surface, hungrily gulped the sweet air back into his lungs.  
    “HELLLP!!!” Mikey’s scream shot out above the noise. “HELP! LEO!” He reached out desperately for his brother, thrashing to keep himself above the undertow but Mutadroid’s arms had squeezed tight around his brother’s throat, grabbing his arms before yanking him back under water.  
    “MIKEY!”  
    Master Splinter’s eyes set. Without hesitation he jumped back into the water after his son.  
    “SENSEI!” Leo winced in pain and stared into the giant whirlpool, realizing the current was probably carrying them away. Leonardo got up and immediately raced alongside the water from the structure beams, trying to keep track of where they were.   
    Sensei could save Mikey. He knew he could, but he should be right on standby in case they needed his help. He had to be ready.  
    The water pooled off into a waterfall and he leaped alongside, sliding down the sewer pipes above, but he couldn’t find them.   
    It had been too long since they had come up for air.  
    He was starting to fear the worst.


	11. Fear

**Chapter 11: Fear**  
 _  
‘Hnnng! Get off of me!’_ Michelangelo flailed through the thick water, struggling to tear himself from his enemy’s grasp. But kick and thrash as he might, the tentacles only locked tighter around his throat, pulling him further down into the depths.  
    His chest grew tight. He hadn’t gotten a chance to breathe before he’d gone under, and now, as the tentacles wrapped around his face, panic swelled.  
    Mikey bit and scratched, desperately stabbing into the strange metal and flesh with one of his hidden blades.  
    The monster’s scream echoed hollow, the terrible water rushing into his face. And now his lungs began burn.  
    If he could fight any harder, he did; bright blue eyes wide and terror frenzied. He reached up desperately towards the cold, shimmering lights that marked his home.  
    Home.  
    It was starting to fade.  
    _‘Bros… I can’t…’_  
    No. Just a little longer. He needed to hold on, just a little bit longer. But he couldn’t. The unkind water rushed and burned into his body, the last of his air racing away. Now there was nothing left to even scream.   
    His head throbbed and grew heavy. The colors slowly began to blur.  
    He thought of his brothers. Of Sensei…  
    He almost thought he could see him.  
    He was so scared.  
     _‘S-Sensei…’_  
    It was the last thing he thought before everything went dark.  
\--  
    A terrible weight crashed into his chest.  
    _“Mikey…. Mikey….!”_  
    It sounded like Leo…. Only very far away. His chest hurt.   
    It felt like someone was punching him over and over and over again. Then suddenly the water was pushed hard from his body. Mikey coughed and sputtered, hurling it all from his system.  
    “Mikey!”  
    Mikey sat up and forced himself to look around, wildly trying to clear his vision.  
    “Where’s Sensei?!” he demanded  
    Leo shook his head towards the water. “He…”  
    Mikey looked back down into that terrible current that had nearly done him in, took a deep breath and uneasily dived back in.  
    Sensei had saved him. He knew it down to his shell. He saw the tentacles reach out and grab him. He was there somewhere. And he was going to save him.  
    Nobody was going split up their family. Not again.  
    Mikey found him quickly. His father seemed to be suspended in the middle of the water, a weak trail of bubbles trickling past his whiskers. And one of those coiling limbs was meandering its way up his leg.  
    Michelangelo pulled the knife from his belt and swam to the rescue. One stab and the tentacle retracted. He quickly grabbed his father, swimming double time against the current towards the surface.  
    The second his face broke from the water, he was ready.  
    “LEO!” he called. “CATCH!” Mikey took aim and threw his kusarigama chain up his brother to catch. Leonardo readily grabbed hold and started to pull.  
    He pulled and pulled and pulled. The pain flared like fire in his arm but he didn’t stop, not sparing an ounce of his strength until he had hauled the both of them up over the pipe.  
    And now, gasping for breath, Leonardo panicked once more.  
    His father wasn’t breathing.  
\--  
\--  
    Beneath the dark dank surface, the little bladed bugs swirled down into the abyss, down-drain into lock…  
    But Mutadroid had not.   
    Sharp claws scraped and glistened in the stale light. And pulling its misshapen body from the water, it began climbing its way up the piped walls with a renewed eerie _hisssssssssssssssssss._  
\--  
\--  
    Thrust after thrust thrown into his father’s chest and still Leonardo wasn’t getting a response, but he kept trying. He didn’t care how long it took.   
    He _would_ save him.  
    “Sensei… Sensei come on. Please…”  
    “Dude…” Mikey swallowed. This was too much!  
    Leo just focused on his task. He was about to try mouth to mouth resuscitation when suddenly Master Splinter bolted up, sputtering to expel the fowl water from his lungs.  
    “SENSEI!”  
    Relief rocked Leo and Mikey and the moment the coughing stopped, they did not hesitate throwing their arms around their father.  
    Master Splinter spared a weary smile to them. “I am alright, my sons,” he promised.  
    “We thought you were a goner,” Mikey choked.  
    He smiled and pat his head. “It will take much more than that to drown _this_ rat,” he assured. He rose to his feet but instantly winced, falling back down to his knees.  
    “Sensei…”  
    “…I am alright,” he said calmly, “though I have sustained a few more injuries than I previously discerned.”  
    Mikey and Leo helped him to his feet, letting him use them to lean on.  
    “Come on,” Leo urged. “Let’s get you… home…”   
    His voice trailed off as he looked to their home. The last of the water drained away and with one more glance to one another, the three went down to face the wreckage.  
\--  
\--  
    Donnie gasped from the floor and tried to blink the stale water from his eyes. The concrete was cold and clammy. And it took nearly all his strength to push himself from the floor. He looked around for Raph.  
    He wasn’t too far away. The water had only thrown him a few yards off.   
    “Ugh,” Raph sat up and groaned, uncomfortably trying to knock the water from his ears. “Ya think we got ‘em all?”  
    “…Yeah… _hopefully_ ,” Donnie replied, rising up from the puddle. “I just hope the others are okay.”  
    “I’m sure they— _AUGH_!” Hot pain surged through his foot and in the next instant Raph had crumpled back down to the floor.  
    “What happened?!”  
    It felt like it was on fire! Raph quickly held it above the puddle, now watching the red swirl into wet ribbons off his skin. Donnie appeared by his side to examine the wound.  
    It did look pretty bad. The whole bottom of his foot seemed to be split open.  
    “Did you step on one of them?”  
    Raph sucked past his teeth. “Would it _surprise_ ya if I said yes?” he growled.  
    “…Come on.” Donnie handed him his staff and let Raph thread his arm around his shoulders to hoist him up.   
    “There. Can you walk?”  
    “Yeah.”  
    With that, the two began to make their way through the long stone tunnels, Raphael hopping alongside with the help of his crutch. But the movements were poorly choreographed and their steps faltered. When they did, Donnie would readjust his weight and without a word, they would continue, slushing silently down the puddle-filled corridors.   
    The sound soon created a sort of rhythm; loud and taut.  
    Donnie yawned sleepily.  
    Raphael noted his eyes; the way they were locked down to the floor. He looked ragged, weighed down from who knows how many sleepless nights. Raph could feel the weakness in his step, the way his feet dragged uneasily through the water.  
That previously welcomed silence grew heavy and wrong. The weight of previous events slowly trickled their way back into Raph’s head.  
    The things that had been said. The things that hadn’t.  
    …..What was he even doing?  
    Raph was the older brother. He was supposed to be looking out for him, _protecting_ him, not… _whatever_ he was doing.   
    This had all gone too far. And all because he had been an idiot, freaking him out… taking the joke too far…. Pushing the envelope with his confused bullshit feelings.  
    Feelings he didn’t even understand himself.  
    None of that was an excuse for what Donnie was going through. He wasn’t sleeping, wasn’t eating. And now here he was, carrying him. Literately, _carrying_ him. Because he couldn’t pay attention to a few stupid bugs.  
    It was humiliating. And it was all Raph could think about.   
    So the silence dragged on, each slosh holding its own urgency. Raphael _had_ to say something before Donnie did. If he didn’t, he feared Donnie would bring it up first. And he didn’t want to hear what he had to say.   
    This whole thing needed to be buried. Now. Six feet under, so it never _ever_ came up again.  
    There was no attraction here. There never was. They were brothers.   
    And this ended now.  
    A few more sloshes and Raph gathered his courage.  
    “… _So_ about what I said before: I didn’t mean it,” he said. “It was all just a bad, stupid joke. You don’t need to lose any sleep over it.”  
    A tired, uncomfortable flutter invaded Donnie’s chest and he tore his eyes away. “…..It…… didn’t feel like a joke, Raph.”  
    “Well, it _was_ ,” he affirmed. “….I’m an idiot okay? Just pretend it never happened.”  
    Donnie swallowed hard, the heat alive in his face.   
    For someone who had been spending the last countless hours awake and alone with his thoughts, Donnie truly hadn’t done much thinking at all. And he knew that wasn’t right. While part of him welcomed Raph’s memory-deleting proposal, he deserved something more than that.  
Raph was obviously going through some very complicated feelings. Things that could be explained by modern science. There was no reason why they couldn’t talk things through and settle this maturely.  
    Though, this was his brother. “R-Raph… I…”  
    Raph was about to rear back and shut him up, when a strange sound stopped them both in their tracks.  
    A shudder. And then an unmistakable _clank_ rattled its way across the ceiling.  
    “What was that?” Donnie turned around, flashing his light up into the rafters. Raphael adjusted the goggles back over his head again, searching around for anything out of place.   
    But there was nothing. Only hollow sounds and the dripping of old beams.  
   “You heard it too, right?”  
        As if to answer, they both heard it again. And this time, Donnie thought he saw a shadow.  
    Raph pulled a sai from his belt, crouched and ready. The moments teased by and then a sinister _purrrr_ made Raph’s scales stand on end.   
    …Right behind him.   
    In the next moment, five lethal limbs seized Raph’s body and without so much as a muffled scream, he was gone... pulled away into the dark.  
     “RAPH!”  
    Donnie barely caught it all from the corner of his eye as Raph had been snatched away. His now abandoned staff fell loud and uselessly to the floor. And Donnie stood alone.   
    Danger coursed through him and he reached for it only to be suddenly blindsided, thrown across the floor by something heavy.  
    Donnie quickly gained his guard, and when he did, he found Raphael was lying beside him in a crumpled, useless heap. His eyes grew large, and when he looked up, he found that same eerie pair of eyes from before, staring him down.  
    Donnie swallowed. His staff was lying not too far away, but it was clear by its eyes.   
    The creature already knew his plan. And it was waiting.  
    Fear and adrenaline sang through his nerves, and Donatello saw no other option. He dove and the tentacles rushed across the floor to meet him. His fingertips had barely grazed the sanctity of his weapon before he was pulled off the floor and hurled headlong into the wall so hard he thought his shell had cracked.  
    With the wind punched out of him, Donnie struggled to regain focus and when he did, he found a blade hurling straight towards his face.  With a terrible _sssing_ it stuck fast into the wall and with it, the tails of his mask. He was rushed and suddenly Donnie found himself face to face with the monster, now so close he could smell the mutagen on its breath.  
    Only then did Donnie truly know fear.  
    “HEY!” The angry challenge bellowed from the floor. Mutadroid paused to look over at its challenger. Raphael had managed to pulled himself up, sai in hand and a murderous look in his eye.   
    “Back off before I shove this sai somewhere you’d prefer I didn’t!” he warned.  
    Donnie held his breath. Now did not seem like the best time to challenge it.  
    Mutadroid was hardly amused. A single lash in retort and Raph was thrown right back into the grit of the pavement.  
    But he wasn’t done. Raph clenched his fists and wiped the blood from his mouth, only angrier than before. “ _Alright_! You asked for i—”  
    Another slash. This time Mutadroid grabbed Raphael by the face and slammed him into the floor as though he were a ragdoll.   
    This time he didn’t get back up. And those strange marbled eyes now narrowed in on Donatello, locked and loaded.  
    Donnie struggled to free his mask from the wall, but it was no use. Mutadroid raised a limb to his face, the strange mechanical parts rearranging until they formed an almost humanoid hand. The long steely fingers stretched long and pulled into fist.   
    Clenched inside: was Donnie’s staff.  
    That strange shuddering growl from before rolled dangerously past its teeth and the cogs in its throat began to turn. Donatello then watched in hapless horror as Mutadroid snapped his staff like a twig and fitted the broken pieces into his mouth. The cogs cranked and whined, his staff cracking and splitting into a thousand pieces.  
    Suddenly Mutadroid screamed. A painful, horrible shriek and Raph held his sai imbedded into the creature’s flesh. His hand shook at the handle, pain searing through his body.   
    He barely had enough strength to drag himself across the floor. And it took the last of it to pull his sai free.  
    Mutadroid hissed angrily. The new cybernetic hand wrapped around Donatello’s throat, tore him from the wall and smashed him down against the floor.  
    Then it was gone. Slithered into the shadows. Raphael forced himself up on to his knees, sai ready and waiting.  
    They weren’t alone.  Not yet.  
    A shadow blurred by. Another eerie purr.  
    It was toying with them, reveling in their fear. Even the sounds of the sewers pressed pause for that inevitable blow. Donnie poised the throwing star tight in his hand. Instinct pricked and Donnie took the shot. He threw his weapon and it found its mark right between the mutant’s eyes. Sparks flew and there he was, face to face again with that oozing maw.  
    His step faltered.  
    He couldn’t fight it. Neither of them could. And there was no place to run.  
    Raphael stepped between his brother and the monster, his sai raised to protect him. But Mutadroid’s eyes didn’t see Raphael. Not for a moment.  
    All they saw: was Donnie.  
    That gaze kept on staring, grinding into Donnie’s nerves. _“…W-What?!”_ he finally snapped. “What do you want from me?!”  
    Its eyes narrowed. Raphael pushed Donnie back further, ready to take it on.   
    And then it made the most disgusting sound either of them had ever heard. The only thing they could even compare it to was the sound Mikey made before he hocked a loogie.  
    The creature hacked and heaved until finally a rancid mess of half digested mutagen spewed out from his mouth and into its hand. With a disdained hiss, it held it out and dropped it with a vainglorious _plop_.  
    Right at Donnie’s feet.  
    Both of them cringed, swallowing that lurch in their stomachs. And as Donnie stared at the mess he realized, that the disgusting ball of vomit before him was his staff.  
    Raph ground his teeth and lunged forward with his sai… and suddenly Mutadroid was gone.  
    “Where did he go?!” Donnie looked around wildly. _“Where did he go?!”_  
    There was a long, strange silence and then a small grinding of steel echoed from a sliver of light, peeking down through the tunnel.  
    New York. The bustling streets above flashed them a glimpse of its glory. The last of the Mutadroid’s body slithered out  past the manhole cover.  
    And Raph and Donnie were _truly_ alone.


	12. Hit the Floor

**Chapter 12. Hit the Floor**       
  
    “They’ve been gone for _hours_!” Mikey stressed. His feet squished on the floor as he walked by, pacing back and forth past the water wrecked furniture, his mind on his brothers.  
    They should be back by now. Why was he the only one freaking out?!  
    “It hasn’t been hours,” Leo amended calmly.  
    “You don’t know, Leo! What if they got flushed? …Like toilet fish!” He couldn’t help his imagination from running wild with that image, his brothers caught in the vortex of a giant flushing toilet.  
    “…Think about it logically,” Leo reasoned. “Who do you suppose it was that unlocked the main drain to flood the lair in the first place?”  
    Mikey thought about it, but once his mind was on a hysterical tangent, it was kind of hard to dial it back. And one particularly horrifying scenario came to mind. “The _Squirrelenoids_?!”  
    “What? No! Mikey, it wasn’t the Squirrelnoids…. I’m pretty sure it was Donnie. He would come up with an idea like that…… and I’m sure Raph’s with him.” Leo looked over to Sensei, as though for a bit of reassurance that he could actually put faith into his own words.  
     Because the truth was, he was just as worried as Mikey. Their T-phones, as waterproof as they were, had not withstood the night’s abuse. There was just no way to get a hold of them. Leo didn’t even know where his phone _was_.  
    It was hard to tell where _anything_ was anymore. The lair was completely devastated. Everything they owned was broken, slashed, soaked through. The television had been smeared into the kitchen. There were parts of the couch caught in the turnstiles…  
    It barely even resembled their home anymore. It was just… destroyed.  
    The fact that Raph and Donnie were gone in the midst of it all just put a knot in his stomach. It took every ounce of self control he had not to drop everything and search for them. But right now, they _needed_ to stay together. The power was still out and there was no telling if danger still lurked in the sewers.  
    All they could do was wait.  
    Leo decided to go check the damage in his bedroom, if anything, just to keep his mind off things. He weaved his way through the soaked rubble, only stopping once when something gross squish-stuck to the bottom of his foot.  
    “Ugh. _What_?” he lifted his foot up and cringed in disgust.  
    He had somehow stepped in liquefied ham. “That is seven types of nasty,” he muttered, trying to scrape it off.  
    “You’re telling _me_ ,” Mikey said. “If you go in the shower, there’s a _huge_ chunk of ham stuck to the ceiling. Don’t know how it’s stayin’ up there, but it totally is.”  
    Leo sighed and continued his trek. “It’s going to take _forever_ to clean this place—Woah.”  
    Their eyes instantly went wide on the bedroom. His door was literately dangling by its hinges; his once perfectly made bed broken in half and blocking part of the door.  
    “…Dude. It looks like your bed was straight chewed up and spat back out by Cthulu.”  
    “Yeah… great.” Leonardo muttered, pushing his bed aside. It instantly fell apart in a heap and he stepped inside, sadly peeling his favorite Space Heroes comic from the floor. He glanced around the ruins.  
    His posters were gone. His candles. His history books on feudal Japan were scattered about, stained and illegible, the ceiling dripping ominously over them.  
    Nothing had survived, save for a few well-sealed comics and a couple of action figures. And it couldn’t help but bring him a certain wave of sadness.  
    His little brother noticed his demeanor and kindly put an arm around his shoulder. “Hey. If _my_ room isn’t totally trashed, you can stay with me. We’ll be roomies—if you want…”  
    Leo gave a small smile at the gesture. “…Thanks.”  
    Mikey smiled. “No problem, bro.”  
    And then they heard something. A crash. Coming from the gate.  
    _“Agh...”_  
    Donnie. That was Donnie’s voice.  
    Leo bolted out of the room and there Raph and Donnie were, draped over the turnstiles, bruised, bloody and weak. But they were alive. Home. And safe. Leo leapt and dodged nimbly through the mess of the living room to meet them, Mikey and Sensei right behind, relief singing in their chests.  
     “Guys!”  
    Donnie raised his battle-worn eyes. “…Raph’s hurt,” he muttered.  
    “Yeah, you’re _both_ hurt,” Leonardo quickly took Raph around the shoulders and gently pulled him in past the turnstiles. “Come on,” he encouraged.  
    Raph growled in pain, but Leo was happy to hear it. And he carefully led him to a choice piece of their wrecked couch to set him down, Master Splinter on his other arm.  
    “What happened to you guys?!” Mikey gushed. “We thought you had gotten flushed or eaten by a giant toilet squid~”  
    “I never thought that,” Leo corrected, his hands already busy with tending Raph’s foot.  
     “We got… ambushed,” Donnie mumbled. “Mutadroid got into th’ mutagen. There w’re bugs… bio… cyber… metrrrric…   _morphic_ ….. T-They went….. topside…”  
    Leo’s eyes widened.  
    Mikey looked over him worriedly, noticing how his words had started to slur. “…Dude, are you okay? You’re makin’ less sense than usual.”  
    “Mmmfzaadf Raph, RAPH!” Suddenly his eyes snapped wide and he whipped his head over to Mikey. “MIKEY! ARE WE SAFE?!”  
    “…Um… yes?” Mikey cowered a little.  
     …..  
     A hollow smile touched his features. “Great.”  And with that parting word, his knees buckled beneath him and before Mikey could even brace his weight, Donnie had collapsed dead weight to the floor.  
     “Donatello!” Master Splinter started and Leo and Mikey rushed to his side.  
  _“Dude! Speak to us!”_  
    Leo turned his face over, feeling his pulse. “He’s unconscious!”  
    “He’s fine,” Raph interrupted calmly from his seat. “…He’s asleep.”  
    Leo and Mikey looked him over again. And they saw he was right. His chest rose and fell evenly beneath his shell. They could even hear the familiar sound of tiny snores.  
    “He hasn’t slept in a few days,” Raph continued numbly into the space. “…..And it’s all my fault.”  
    Leo and Mikey looked at each other, confused. “…Huh?”  
    Raphael quickly got up from his seat and gently lifted Donnie’s limp form from the floor, hoisting him over his shoulder. “I’ll take him to his room,” he said.  
    “Raph, your foot…” Leo tried to object. His bandage was only half finished, but Raph didn’t spare a thought over it, already halfway down to his door.  
    Leo and Mikey shared another puzzled glance. Suddenly Mikey’s eyes grew large and he got up, scrambling after him quick. “WAIT!! RAPH!! DON’T OPEN THE--!”  
    But by the time Raph had heard, it was too late. His hand clasped the handle and with a firm tug, the door was yanked open.  
     _ **WOOOSH!!!!**  
_     A wall of water came crashing down from the other side, the force knocking Raph backwards and sending Donnie sprawling halfway across the floor. Raph pulled himself up and watched as the last of the trapped water pooled past him, carrying off tools, flasks and broken glass until it left behind nothing but a hollow gutted space.  
    Mikey shook his head. “I _told_ you not to open it…”  
     _“NO, ya didn’t!_ ” he snapped.  
    Donnie shivered weakly from the cold floor, curling into himself even in sleep. Raphael quickly scooped him back into his arms and held him tightly to his chest. He had to get him somewhere warm to sleep before he caught fever.  
    Master Splinter bowed his head gravely. Their home was in such deep disrepair that it couldn’t well accommodate them.  
    Normally in such circumstances, the five would take shelter under the kindness of the O’Neils and their friends. But right now, they were all exhausted and far too injured to make such a trip. Besides that, Donnie would have to be carried and there was probably still sunlight out around this time.  
    It would be uncomfortable to be sure, but they would have to make do here at least for the night.  
    “We will have to remain here,” he told them. “We will rest now and start repairs in the morning.”  
    “I checked the other rooms,” Leo informed. “The only ones that have sort of survived are Raph’s room and most of Mikey’s. The Shellraiser and the garage are also fine, for the most part… The garage is up for debate…”  
Raph paused at that. “How is _Mikey’s_ room okay?”  
    How was that room not trashed the worst?  
    “It’s because my ham statue saved the _day_!” Mikey boasted proudly. “He must have blocked out the water with his ham...”  
    “. . . .That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”  
    “How about this,” Leo posed. “I’ll stay in Mikey’s room… and Raph, you take Donnie to your room.”  
     _“NO!”_ Raph blurted out flat.  
    He instantly knew how it sounded. He’d rejected it too loudly, too quickly.  He tried to amend. “… _Um_ … I mean… don’tchya think he’d be more comfortable with Mikey?”  
    Now Leonardo gave him a look. Raph was behaving strangely. Usually they were always on the same wavelength with stuff like this…  
    “Um…”  
    Raph turned and playfully knocked Mikey in the shoulder. “Whaddaya say Mikey?! Take Donnie?”  
    Mikey blinked. “Ummm…” he started, “there’s a bunch of ham…”  
    “Great! That’s perfect!” Without another moment’s hesitation, Raph had hoisted Donnie up and was already carrying him off, leaving his other brothers alone again to exchange confused glances.  
\--  
     _Slosh… slish… slush…_  
    The empty sounds rolled down from the walls, the puddles slapping against his feet.  
    Raph waited until he was far under the cover of station’s eve before he allowed himself to cringe. The water stung fiercely in his wound and he internally cursed Mikey’s room for being so difficult to get to.  
     Of all the rooms he could have chosen…  
    Raph looked down at the sleeping form sprawled dead weight in his arms and narrowed his eyes accusingly. “Why are you so heavy?” he demanded.  
    A light, fluttering snore came back in reply as Donnie continued to snooze away against his chest, sleep-muttering some uninspired nonsense about quantifying algorithms.  
    Raph just stared at him. “…Can’t even turn off the Nerd for sleep, huh?”  
    “Hm,” Donnie hummed to himself and a peaceful smile spread over his features.  
    So Raph pushed off from the wall and continued his trek through the long puddles, rounding the corner until he reached the stuck wooden door and after a bit of effort, finally succeeded in kicking it open.  
    But what he found was far from welcoming.  
     _“Auhh!”_  
    Raph wished the room _had_ been destroyed. It might have been an improvement!  
    Random puddles spread over the floor. Slabs of ham and aluminum cans littered the room in strange places. And on the side of the bed, perched atop the desk was a deformed, globbing mess of the congealed meat that had been abused and manipulated into what almost appeared to be a pink, half-eaten snowman.  
     “What the shell is that?”  
     …Oh, yeah. Mikey _did_ say something about a ham statue awhile back.  
    Man, he _really_ needed to have a talk with him about some of these disturbing hobbies of his. It almost felt like it was staring him.  
    He almost felt _bad_ for leaving Donnie there, but it was the only real option. After all the recent awkwardness, the last thing anybody needed was for Donnie to wake up with him alone in his bed. He knew Leo probably thought oddly of his behavior, but there was no alternate universe where that was going down.  
    At least the room didn’t smell. Raph kicked a few cans aside and carried Donnie over to the bed. Feeling it was dry, he peeled the blankets back to maneuver him into the covers. But he stopped when he noticed a thread of wetness clung to his chest, tapering to the corner of Donnie’s mouth.  
    “Ugh, _what_?” he gaped in disgust. “Did you _drool_ on me?!”  
    Don smacked his lips and soundly continued to snore. Raph’s eyes narrowed. “Ya know, you’re lucky I don’t clock ya. You pass out in the living room, make me carry you all the way here and _now_ you…”  
    Another tiny sound of sleep snuffed his bravado. And there came that stupid fluttering in the pit of his stomach…  
    Carrying with it that air-borne loneliness and sickening shame.  
    Raphael turned on his wounded heel out of the room, swallowing it down and shutting the door behind him.  
\--  
\--  
    The next morning started out a rather quiet grind. Leo had long gone from Raph’s room, being the early riser that he was and was already working alongside Master Splinter to tackle the mess head on. After changing his bandages again, Raph joined. And some time later Mikey, did too, even if he was dragging his feet all the way.  
     Donnie hadn’t woken up yet, but they all figured he could use the extra sleep and left him alone.  
    There was so much that needed to be done. Sweeping, scrubbing, mopping… gathering all the broken pieces to their belongings…  
    So many things would have to be replaced. Mikey sniffled as he swept up all the parts of their ex-television into the garbage pile. Every wet, rattling piece sifted into the dustpan another pang in his heart. His chin warbled.  
    “I can’t do it guys!” he finally whined, running his hands through the beloved parts. “I loved her _so much!_ How will I go on?!”  
    “We’ll just have to get another TV,” Leo reasoned.  
    “Easy for _you_ to say!” His mouth pulled to pouty frown. “…Spoon killer.”  
    Leonardo paused from his sweeping. “Are you still going on about that?”  
    “ _Yes_! Hard not to when I ‘m cleaning up the corpses of his brothers…!”  
    “They’re _spoons_ Mikey!” Raph growled from the floor.  
    “You weren’t… there!” Mikey pointed accusingly.  
    “ _Yeah_!” he agreed. “Glad I wasn’t.”  
    He was, too. The story was idiotic. And he felt like he’d heard it at least fifty times already that morning.  
    Mikey picked up a slivered piece of wood from the floor and stared at it sadly. He knew each one by name. “Peter~” He picked up another. “…K-Kevin…?” The last one made his eyes water. “ _Doug_!”  
     Raph threw down his scrubbing brush. “For the hundredth time…” he got in his face. “THEY’RE SPOONS MIKEY!!”  
    “YEAH?! Well…! Wait. We get a new TV?” The realization stopped him completely and just like that Mikey’s big blue eyes were lit up like stars again, all previous sadness instantly forgotten.  
    Raph just stared at him for a moment. Did he seriously have an attention span of a gnat?  
    “LEO! We get a new TV! You said so, right? Right Sensei?” Mikey clamored up to his father.  
    Master Splinter nodded, though his voice was stern. “After we are finished cleaning up here, then yes. You four may venture out tonight to retrieve supplies, so long as you stay together and exercise _extreme_ caution.”  
    “Hai Sensei,” Leo dutifully promised.  
    Raph grabbed his brush back up again to continue his scrubbing. “First thing we’re gonna do is get you a new bed, Leo.”  
    Leo chuckled. “What? Already tired with having me as a roommate?”  
    “Well, I _wouldn_ ’t be, if you weren’t such a cover hog. And bed hog…. _Actually_ … you’re just a hog,” Raph grinned.  
    Leo shot him a snarky look and punched him in the arm. “Yeah well, you aren’t exactly a walk in the park either. Do you know you sleep talk? You kept muttering some nonsense about Donnie all night….. and tacos.”  
    “Sleep tacos are best tacos,” Mikey replied sagely and he got up, his cardboard box of garbage now filled to the brim. He grunted with the hefty weight and carried it out past the turnstiles, so it could be disposed of later. He sat it down, his eyes happening across the old tracks to find more of their things had been swept out here as well.  
    “HEY GUYS! I think I found the kitchen!” He called back.  
    Leo and Raph went over to the turnstiles. And sure enough, there was the sink, the contents of the fridge, and the latter half of their microwave, all lying in plain sight.  
    “See what can be salvaged,” Leo ordered. “I’ll join you in a minute after I finish up with the living room.”  
    Raph looked over at Leo, the word sparking an idea. “Hey. Didn’t Casey say something a few days ago about trying to get rid of an old TV?”  
    Leo’s eyes widened at the memory. “Yeah! …Though I think April and Casey might still be in the middle of their exams...”  
    “No hurt in calling ‘em later though, right? And who knows, Leatherhead might have some stuff like bandages…”  
    Leo agreed. That _was_ a pretty good idea.  
    At that moment, Mikey squeezed his way back in through the turnstiles, his face alight and his arms full. “Hey guys! You won’t believe what I found!”  
    They waited.  
    “…It’s the can opener!” Mikey’s smile broadened and he comically pulled the unassuming machine from the box, displaying it for all to see.  
    “…Wow,” Leo nodded in surprise. “Not a scratch on it.”  
    “Yep! And I guarantee it still works!”  
    “What, so we can have more _ham_ tonight?” Raph asked sarcastically.  
    Every one of them shuddered down to their shells. Between the meals and all the ham they had been cleaning up all morning, nobody so much as wanted to look at a piece of ham ever again! Even Master Splinter was getting tired of it.  
    …Maybe ordering a pizza later wouldn’t be so bad…  
    Nevertheless, Mikey took the can opener back to its home in the kitchen and plugged it in, rewarded to hear its quiet whir. “Ohh _yeahhh_ ~! Still works!”  
    “That’s great,” Leo smiled, though it fell slightly as he looked at it more carefully. “Huh… did it always look like that?”  
    Now that he thought about it, he could have sworn he remembered it being smaller and a bit more simple…  
    “Iunno.” Mikey shrugged. And Leonardo chocked it up to his overactive imagination.  
    “Hey!” Raph interrupted. “While you guys were slackin’ off I already finished cleanin’ up the living room… so… I think I’m gonna go check on Don…”  
    Leo nodded. “Alright.”  
    And with that he left; the two behind quiet as they watched him go.  
    “…He’s been really worried about him…”  
    “Yeah I know,” Mikey agreed. “He’s been checkin’ up on him more times than _you_.”  
    Leo blinked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”  
\--  
    It was quiet in here now. Peaceful, gentle and waiting. So much so he almost seemed out of place. His eyes took measure from the doorway. The soft, flickering glow of a paper lantern doused the room in a lone, sleepy light. And Don remained as he had, eyes closed and lost to the modern world.  
    It was funny. Raph normally hated this kind of silence. But all day this is where he’d wanted to be.  
    He knew Don’s injuries weren’t life threatening. But out there, it just felt a little too familiar. Like another one of those battles that left one of them beaten within an inch of their lives.  
    But in here Donnie was safe. Just sleeping. And his heart was a little more calm.  
    Raph pushed off from Mikey’s desk and retrieved the chair from across the room, dragging it across the floor and setting it up haphazard-backwards by the bedside.  
    He figured if he was going to be the creepy guy watchin’ him sleep, he may as well make himself comfortable. So he plopped down loudly and folded his arms over the top of the chair.  
    …But for some reason it wasn’t comfortable. Actually, he felt kinda stupid.  
    A few moments went by, mocked by the nothing and the paper light and Raph awkwardly dismounted the chair, turning it around to sit normally across from his brother. Then he crossed his arms tight, watching that warm glow play across his face.  
    …..He sure had a lot of bruises. But then again Mutadroid _did_ throw his shell around pretty hard out there.  
    . . . . .  
    Why was it like this?  
    His head was such a mess. It had been for a long time. Before any of this had ever started. And he didn’t even know where it stemmed from.  
    Perhaps it was… _everything_. April and Casey, the mutants and other dimensions…  
    It wasn’t like when they were kids anymore. They weren’t just monsters forever condemned to the bottom of the sewer.  
    Now they were more like urban legends. There were people out there who believed in them… that knew that they existed, hiding in the shadows protecting New York.  
    The belief that humans would never accept them no longer held value. The belief that they were the only mutants didn’t either. There were aliens, other dimensions; a whole life that they were allowed to be a part of.  
    From the first time they had gone topside at fifteen, their whole lives had been turned upside down. Full of adventure and opportunity. Including simple ones they never hoped to toy with in their wildest dreams.  
    Things like love. Women. Romance. Lust.  
    --Or maybe it was something more carnal. That loneliness Raph kept crushed away and never spoke to anyone about; it had been eroding him silently. Like acid. And it ached.  
    He felt sour. And lonely.  
    How Donnie had gotten into the mix, he wasn’t sure… but…  
    He knew Donnie was sour too. Donnie ached like him, craved like him… tried to bury his loneliness away. He knew April and Casey were together. Everyone did. They had been together for _years_ now, even if they didn’t speak about it outright in front of him. And although he stopped making trinkets and music boxes in her honor, that yearning was still there.  
    To most it would seem Donnie had even moved on, but Raph knew better. His eyes still followed her in a room when he was sure no one was looking. And it annoyed him. It had _always_ annoyed him.  
    Because she didn’t deserve him.  
    He deserved someone who could appreciate his nerdiness and his kindness. Someone who made him feel just as wanted as he made others feel. Don was a good guy. He was strong and hard working… and he never gave up for anything.  
    He had so much love to give…  
     ….So why couldn’t he be the one?  
    Because they were brothers. They were like two points too close together going in the opposite direction, both waiting on a miracle that would never happen.  
    But if Raph was truly honest with himself, he wasn’t so sure he’d _ever_ really wanted that. Humans never struck him that way. He kept everyone at arm’s length, his world small. And of everyone who had their place in his world, Donnie was there. Always. He was that dark horse, hidden in the background. The one with all the answers. With his graphs, and equations and those big brown beautiful eyes…  
    He wondered if there was a graph in there for him, an equation to fix him hidden somewhere in that head of his…  
    Suddenly Don stirred in his sleep and Raphael froze.  
    But it was short lived. He only nestled tighter into his pillow, his purple mask now pushed askew, sloppily matted to the side on his face.  
    Raph almost had to stifle a laugh. And all he thought was the word: ‘Cute.’  
    He tried to shake it off, knowing the stupidity and danger in it. But as the quiet resettled and the tail ends of his mask fluttered back and forth on his breath, he couldn’t think of another word for it.  
    …..Who was he trying to kid anyway?  
    Donnie _was_ cute……. He was adorable, actually. Even with all that nerdish, incessant chatter. It was part of his charm. Anyone could see that!  Plus, he was kind of a badass. Heck, he took all of those chainbugs down single handedly! On no sleep too. That was near grounds for making him a superhero!  
    And who did he think he was, anyway? Running around the lair, trippin’ over himself with that stupid smile of his…  
    Raph knew he shouldn’t be thinking like this. It was dangerous territory. That sick turn in his stomach warned so. But it was warm and it was honest.  
    Maybe he _had_ thought of Donnie like that once or twice. Maybe all the things he said before held some merit. At some point, he had started _listening_ to that incessant chatter, hanging on it, marveling at him, following him with his eyes…  
    The events threaded together down to that moment he had fixed his bandage… That split moment where he’d wondered what it would be like to kiss him.  
    And then Raph stopped. The realization plummeted all the way down to his gut and made him sick.  
    ……..He liked Don.  
    All the things he said and did before were true. The jokes were true, those displaced feelings… _everything_. His eyes went wide and he couldn’t breathe.  
    What was he going to do?  
    All at once Raph got angry at his stupid self and he pulled himself together. The answer was obvious. Nothing was going to happen. He had said they would be normal and they were going to be normal. Obviously he would have to get over this on his own. This was _his_ problem to deal with. Don had nothing to do with it, wanted nothing to do with him…  
    And that’s how it should be.  
    He was probably just cooped up. He’d just have to… go out and meet some girls or something… he’d get over it.     Everything was going to be fine. He’d work this through.  
    It was then Donnie tossed a little again in his rest, and a name mumbled into the blankets, almost too quiet to hear.  
    _“—Raph…”_  
    Raph lowered his eyes. His hands clenched into hard fists but it didn’t fight the flip in his chest.  
    ….He would have to deal with this quick. And hope he hadn’t permanently ruined his relationship with him as his brother.  
-  
    Mikey pressed his ear against his bedroom door, to straining for what he could hear. Raph had been gone for a super long time. Like, crazy long. And it wasn’t like there was anything wrong with that, he was just sort of bored of cleaning and wanted to just check-up on him.  
    It seemed like Raph could use a break. He seemed a little off lately… or bored… or tense. Or something like that. He just hoped he wasn’t interrupting anything.  
    But after a few moments being unable to hear anything, Mikey cocked his head to the side and cracked the door open to peek inside. And there he was, just sitting by his bedside lost in thought, watching Donnie sleep.  
    It was like he hadn’t even noticed him. He opened the door a bit wider, stepping inside. _“Hey Raph?”_  
    Raph started at the whisper and looked over, his face hot.  
  _“Dude. Chill.”_ Mikey hushed. He tip-toed over and plopped down on the floor beside him, pulling out a bag of chips from out of nowhere. The bag rattled loud in his hand and Raph snatched away, now glaring daggers at him.  
     _Who wanted who to be quiet?!_  
    Mikey snickered to himself. At least Raph was a little more like his old self again and he looked over at Don. “…..You know he’s goin’ to be okay, right? He’s just sleeping…”  
    “Yeah, I know.”  
    “Well then loosen up,” he encouraged kindly. “…Whatever happened with you guys, I’m sure will be totally fine once he wakes up….. Take a break or somethin’. Get something to eat. Take a shower...”  
     Raph momentarily wondered how Mikey knew something had happened, but as the words settled in he felt a little more at ease. “…Yeah…”  
    “No seriously dude.” He sniffed the air around him and wrinkled his nose. “Take a shower. No offense but you’re so rank right now I can’t see straight~”  
    Raph blinked and took a self-conscious whiff under his arm and cringed. “ _Eesh_.”  
    Okay, a shower was _definitely_ in order.  
    Mikey put a hand on his shoulder. “And hey. I’ll totally keep an eye on him. I’ll even let you know if he wakes up.”  
    Raph smiled. “Thanks Mikey.”  
    “No prob.”  
    And with that Raph got up and headed off to the showers. Now by himself, Mikey grabbed his handheld on the table and he took it down, his eyes instantly narrowing in on the LED screen.  
    Level 42. His mortal enemy.  
    In nearly no time at all he was lost in the game, desperately dodging and weaving through enemy rays, techni-colored lasers dancing across his freckled face, his tongue bit in concentration.  
    He couldn’t lose again. Not this time. Even if this took hours… _days_ … he _would_ win!  
    But his character was trapped in a corner, staring at the boss of all bosses! And a quarter health left! He was doomed~!  
    Mikey’s eyes narrowed hard with determination. Defeat was not an option.  
    “It’s Go Time,” he muttered.  
     And he charged forward, his thumbs moving quick.  
    Right… Left… Duck… Jump Attack… _Come onnnn_ … if he could just get that combo…  
    He hardly heard the sound.  
    “ _Hnngh Mm_ ….. M-Mikey?”  
    “Quiet, D. I’ve got this.” All at once Mikey blinked and his eyes leapt up from the screen in surprise.  
    Don was awake.


	13. Lover's Knot

**Chapter 13: Lover's Knot**  
  
    “Don…” Mikey stared in surprise, the scene of battle still playing out, forgotten in his hands.  
    “What…. happened?” Donnie sat up and blinked painfully around his surroundings, the mother of all headaches ringing in his temples and set hard to confusion. “…Why am I in your bedroom?”  
    Mikey’s eyes jumped back down. His momentary negligence cast his doom. A bold red GAME OVER lit up Mikey’s game screen and he laid it aside to pout at the loss.  
     “Looooong story, dude. Basically: you fell asleep on the floor. But then your room was all flooded so Raph carried you in here— _Huh_ …” he blinked. “Actually come to think of it that’s a pretty short story.”  
    Don lowered his eyes, massaging his pained temples and he straightened his mask. “…How long have I been out?”  
    “Seventy hours.”  
_“SEVENTY HOURS?!”_  
    “Or……. Wait… _Seventeen_ hours…. Probably…. Idunno you should probably ask Raph.”  
    The name brought life a little more into focus and he cleared his throat. The words resettled their way into his head and he twirled his fingers uneasily over the fringe of his blanket. “....You said… Raph carried me in here?”  
    “Yep!” Mikey smiled cheerily. “He was _super_ worried about you…. I mean, he didn’t say anything but it was pretty obvious. If it wasn’t for Leo he might have stayed here the whole time brooding… or… whatever he was doin’…”  
    Donnie lowered his eyes, trying to kick that nervous flutter again in his stomach. It was like no matter where he turned he was bombarded with him. He could hardly catch a break.  
    And it was at that moment, as Mikey studied his face, that he grew a bit concerned. “Hey, you okay? You’re lookin’ kinda feverish…”  
    “Knock knock.” Leonardo’s voice called out and he peeked his head in through the door. “I thought I heard… Donnie! You’re awake!” Blue eyes smiled widely beneath his mask and he came over to the bedside. “How are you feeling?”  
    “I’m fine,” Donnie assured. “…A bit of a headache but I’ll recover.”  
    “No surprise there! You really gave us a scare back there. You hit the floor pretty hard. You were out for almost seventeen hours.”  
    “See? I was totally right about that one!” Mikey grinned.  
    “We were worried you’d gotten a _concussion_. Raph was…” Leo paused and looked around the room, realizing the party in mention was missing. “Where’s Raph?”  
    “In the shower,” Mikey prompted.  
    Leonardo looked over him seriously. “Raph was worried about you the most. He carried you all the way in here on that foot of his and then he hardly wanted to leave your side…”   
    And then Leo cocked his head to the side curiously, much the same way Mikey had done.   
    Perhaps it was just a trick of the light but… Donnie’s face seemed rather flush.  
    “Hey are you… alright? You look like you’ve got a fever…”  
    “W-What?” Donnie’s eyes widened and he flinched back, reflexive and self-conscious. “NO! I-I’m fine… really… it’s just the headache…”  
  _“Who’s got a fever now?”_  
    Donnie froze. That voice he didn’t want to hear right now rushed hot through his scales all the way down to the pit of his stomach. And there he was, leaning casually in the door frame, bright eyes and gleaming muscles, the towel scrunched in hand as he scrubbed the moisture down from his collar.  
    And now Donnie couldn’t help but turn a shade of red.  
    Raph blinked in surprise. “Don…”  
    Mikey smiled. “ _Yep_! He just woke up!”  
    “Abduhh ummmm y-y-y-yes! _Hi_! …Raph.”  
    Raph raised a brow at the weird reaction. “…Hi?”  
    “….Hi.”  
    The silence was awkward. They stared too long. And Raphael noticed well the way Donnie’s eyes climbed his body until Mikey broke the silence with his own cheerful: “HI!”  
    Reality glared. Raph lowered his eyes, instinctually rubbing the back of his neck the way he often did when he was nervous. “ _Uh_! So… feelin’ better?”  
    “Better?” Donnie blinked. “Uh, yes! _Much_ better! Perfect, actually! …I should get up….”  
    “Take it easy Donnie,” Leo urged on his arm. “You might need a bit to recover.”  
    “I’m fine…. You guys need help right?” Don looked them over seriously. “How bad is the lair?”  
    “Pretty rough shape,” he admitted.  
    “There was ceiling ham,” Mikey stated seriously, as though that were a perfectly logical means to measure property damage. Donnie turned back to Leo.  
    “…Do we have power back?”  
    “Master Splinter did what he could. We’ve got a light in the kitchen and a few emergency lamps but… it’s all rather makeshift,” he replied. “You know wires better than we do… according to the scans on the Shellraiser though, everything’s shot.”  
    Donnie thought it over, allowing Leo to assist him to his feet.  
    “That doesn’t surprise me. Mutadroid not only tripped the power, he also sabotaged the backup generator. Raph and I saw the damage.” Donnie paused, his senses wise to his Raphael’s sidelong gaze but he continued out the door, his mind now hard set on wires. “Fortunately, not everything should be lost. A while back I took the liberty of converting a few of our security wires and sensors to be powered by Kraang tech… or a… sort of fusion between battery and synthetic Kraang laser… both a little more durable and waterproof than its… _other_ counterparts. They should have survived the flood at least…”  
    “So what do we have?” Leo asked, as they all followed him out into the garage, which was surprisingly dry, all things considered.   
    Though that didn’t count for much with the damage from the chainbugs.   
    Donnie continued his trek and climbed into the Shellraiser, pushing his way to the station’s computer and immediately put his fingers to the keys.  
    “I’m not sure yet,” he answered. “I’m running a few scans now but… ehhh I wouldn’t hold out for much…”   
    Numbers and digits lit the screen in neon green as Donnie’s eyes sifted through until he finally found the answer he was looking for as the scans completed. “Oh! We have a few pings. On the North, West and Southeastern tunnels!”  
    “What does that mean?” Leo wondered.  
    “It means we have… _partial_ perimeters, but they seem weak. Likely the North and West ones were damaged too.” It was then that an alarm lit up the screen up red, showing Donnie to a pointed location on a map. “…Huh.”  
    “What’s that?” Raph asked.  
    “Something tripped the wire on the Southeastern tunnel… not even an hour ago.”  
    Leo’s eyes hardened. “Something’s still down here.”  
    Mikey stared wide eyed at the computer screen and then turned unhappily to his brothers. “Please don’t tell me we’re going to investigate~”  
    “ _No_ , you most certainly are _not_.” The four jumped turned around to find their father, glaring at them sternly from the Shellraiser door.  
    “We _weren_ ’t Sensei,” Leo promised, “but there could be something down here. And aren’t we sitting ducks if we can’t repair the damage to the lair’s security systems?”  
    Master Splinter paused and closed his eyes, mulling it over deeply. “…Donatello. I believe it would be wisest for you to first repair the security around the immediate facility and the surrounding area if you can….”  
    Donnie nodded and he continued sternly: “However, we should not be wandering around aimlessly…. Even if our enemy truly is hiding amongst the sewers, a ninja has no business looking for a battle he is ill-prepared for.”  
     “Yeah. He kinda kicked our shells in,” Raph agreed.  
    “But we are going to need to run out at some point to get more supplies,” Donnie pointed out. “I don’t know what I have!”  
    Master Splinter looked over and put a strong hand on Donnie’s shoulder. “You must try to make do with what you _do_ have…. Be resourceful, my son.”  
    Donnie sighed and looked at his computer. “A bit difficult to do with my lack of resources…”  
    His father smiled knowingly. “I believe you will both surprise and surpass yourself… if you allow it.”  
    Mikey smiled and put an arm around Donnie’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, D. We’ve got your back.”  
    “Yeah, we’re not about to sit around and let you do all of this by yourself,” Leo agreed. “We work together. Anything you especially need, Donnie, let us know.”  
    “Yeah, it’s not like we’re morons. We can fix stuff too,” Raph piped in.  
    Donnie smiled to each of them. “Thanks guys.”  
    And with that, Leonardo stood straight. “Alright team. Let’s get to work.”  
\--  
    The next several hours were thumping hammers, clicking ratchets and power drills. Dedication and tedious rewiring finally brought their damaged generator back to life. There were a few burn outs due to wet circuits frying, but it was enough. And every one of them pushed forward together, trying to restore their home to a state of its former glory.  
    “WRENCH!” Mikey called.  
    Raph responded in kind and tossed it over and he put down his screwdriver, continuing his operations on the hinges of Leo’s door.  
    Many of the parts had to be recycled for other use, but as Master Splinter had ordered them, they got creative, trying to use every scrap and screw they possibly could. And it was coming along. Leo and Raph had done wonders patching up the holes in the walls.   
    It was finally starting to feel like home again.  
    “Yo, Don. Ya got a pair of wire cutters?”  
    Donnie paused from his work at his voice, his hands hesitant as he searched for the tool in need. When he found it he immediately pushed it across the floor towards Raph’s direction, without so much as a word or a passing glance.  
    It had been like this all morning. Donnie was acting strangely. He almost seemed to be avoiding him. And when he wasn’t, it was like he was sizing him up before he ran away from him again.  
    Leonardo however, hardly noticed the transactions of his brothers as he put the finishing touches on his latest patch job and stood back to admire his work. “Everything’s finally coming along.” He smiled over.     “How’s it going over there, Donnie?”  
    “Eh, it’s alright, but I don’t have enough juice to extend the security anything past seventeen feet. I just don’t have the means…”  
    Mikey peeked his head in. “Ya gotta be resourceful, dude.”  
    “I _am!”_ Donnie insisted, unable to hide the exasperated bite in his voice.  
    It was just so frustrating! He wasn’t a miracle worker after all! Resourceful or not, he needed supplies!  
    They slowly all got back to work and now Raph’s eyes slyly panned over to the others.   
    They were all distracted. Now may be his _only_ chance to put his plan into action. Raph waited still a moment longer for the tools to become loud again and he slid across the floor, putting his ninja skills to the test as he tip-toed behind the corner and pulled the hideous pink glob out from its hiding place.  
    It had taken forever to sneak the terrible sculpture out of Mikey’s room. If it wasn’t already gross enough, it was even nastier and heavier up close. But soon it would all be worth it.  
    Raph peeked again around the corner into the living room, the quiet drone calling each of them back to their duties.  
    Raph strutted quietly out into the living room, struggling with the awkward weight on his stride, but he kept going, his goal in sight…  
    Unfortunately, sneaky as he was, he just wasn’t sneaky enough. A few steps later Mikey paused, his ninja vibes catching the movement from the corner of their eye. And when he turned his eyes instantly widened in horror, as Raph carried his precious statue towards the turnstiles!  
    “HEY!” He scrambled over. “What are you doing with Hamantha?!” he demanded angrily.  
Raph turned slightly to see him past the giant pink monstrosity. “The fact that you named it _Hamantha_ is just another reason why this thing needs to go,” he replied, continuing on.  
    “YOU CAN’T!” Mikey leaped in front to bar his path. “Hamantha is my precious~ my baby! …She’s MINE! And you can’t take her away from me!”  
    “She’s a _slab_ of _meat_! A creepy, misshapen, disgusting slab of meat!” he argued. “ _You_ need to stop naming meat!!”  
    “You _do_ need to stop naming meat, Mikey,” Leo admitted.  
    Raph turned to Don, looking for his vote. “Don?”  
    “I’m staying out of this one,” he called distractedly.   
    Mikey glared harshly. “You guys just don’t know art when you see it!”  
    “Oh, I know art. This ain’t it.” He pushed past and now Mikey leaped to his ankles.  
    “Please~” he begged. “Have a heart~”  
    “No.”  
    “Please~?” Mikey clutched his ankles even tighter, letting Raph drag his weight behind him. “Please please please please _pleaaaaase_ ~”  
    Raph now struggled with every step. “Get off!” He kicked.  
    And Mikey pulled himself sadly from the floor. “Can’t I have this one thing?! First it was my spoons and the TV, then you named the monster without me and _now_ you’re taking my sculpture too?!”  
Leonardo instantly cringed, his words striking a guilty chord. He thought it over. “…Let him keep it,” he sighed.  
    “Huh?” Mikey looked over at him. “For real?”  
    Raph paused and looked back to find those shimmering blue eyes giving him the saddest look he could ever muster. “ _What_?!” He glanced back angrily and instead caught Donnie’s eyes from across the room.  
    Raph’s eyes instantly fell a little and he shifted on his feet, feeling Mikey’s eyes gnaw at him again and he finally caved. “…Yeah, fine whatever.” he grumbled, pushing it back into his brother’s chest.  
    Mikey beamed with delight. “Come on Hamantha! Let’s get you home.” He hauled it away in his arms, humming a cheery tune all the way to his bedroom.  
    Raph shook his head. “…Does anyone understand him?!” he demanded.  
    “Why would you _want_ to?” Leo wondered.  
    “Because I’m amazing!” Mikey called back loudly. In a matter of moments Mikey had bounded back, still humming to himself all the way to his work station, a spring in his step.  
    Unfortunately all his skipping had caused the nuts and bolts he had collected to come flying from his open tool belt pocket, now skipping and scattering all over the floor.  
    “MIKEY!” They all growled.  
    “Heh….oops.” Mikey grinned sheepishly and the others groaned. “Don’t worry, I’ll get ‘em!”  
    True to his word, he quickly scampered after each of the parts with a ninja’s ease. All except for one bolt that was proving particularly difficult to catch. It rolled its way out from his grasp, past the door into Leonardo’s bedroom.  
    “You think you’ve got the drop on me?!” he challenged and he bounded after, watching it clatter beneath Leo’s old desk and stop short. “I’ve got you now!” He narrowed his eyes he stretched down on his belly to reach. “ _Go_ ninja, _Go_ ninja… go?” He picked it up though paused in his victory as something else caught the corner of his eye.   
    On closer inspection, it appeared to be a picture, soak-plastered to the floor on the underside of one of the broken drawers.   
    Michelangelo put the bolt in his pocket and cast the drawer aside, picking it up with careful fingers, turned it over…  
    And he stopped.  
    “Hey, did you find all the pieces? I don’t want to step on any the next time I come in here,” Leo warned from the doorway. And then he paused curiously, at the something in his hand. “…What’s that?”  
    “H-Huh _whaaaat_?” A bright, casual smile covered his face and he tried to slip the picture away so Leo wouldn’t see. “ _Pffft_ nothing, bro. Since when do I ever have things?”  
    But Leo wasn’t buying it and with a raised brow held out one of his hands. “Come on. Let’s see it. What did you find?”  
    Still Mikey hesitated.  
    “Come on,” he insisted, “it could important.”  
    “…..” Mikey lowered his eyes in resignation and set the photograph delicately in Leonardo’s hand.  
    Because it _was_ important. It was probably the only one he had left of her.  
    Immediately a bright casual smile covered Mikey’s face, a weak effort to force something lighthearted back into the room. “Ya still keep a picture of Karai, huh? Man, I almost forgot what she _looked_ like! Dude I still remember the first time she tried to kick your face in. _Good times~”_  
    But it was no use. Mikey’s words fell on deaf ears. And he watched that turmoil wrench anew at his brother’s insides.  
    He wanted to apologize. Just take it all back. He should have _never_ come in here.  
    Leonardo numbly turned on his heel out of the room, eyes hollow, his footsteps nothing. And Mikey cautiously followed.  
    Raph glanced up from his hammering.   
    Donnie paused from his work.  
    “…Leo?” Raph got up. “You okay?” He looked to Mikey curiously.  
    “…I found a picture,” he hushed.  
    Instantly their eyes grew wide.  
    “Leo…” Donnie swallowed.  
    “…. _C’mon_ Leo!” Raph called. “I could really use your help over here! These new crate boards are heavy and the bathroom ain’t gonna fix itself!”  
    But still there was no reply.  
    Donnie stepped forward bravely. “….Leo…”  
    “I’m fine,” he said.  
    “But…”  
  **“I said I’m fine.”** Suddenly his T-phone trilled its cheery tone from his belt pocket and Leo readily answered it. “Hello.”  
_“Yo Leo. Long time, no speak.”_  
    Leonardo blinked at the receiver, surprised at the familiar voice. “…Casey?”  
    _“The one and only! I hear you guys are in need of some new stuff and I thought: what better than to receive some from the infamous and **generous** Casey Jones?”_  
    “It would sure help us out a lot…” he smiled.  
    Mikey bounced in. “Ooh! The TV. Ask him about the TV! _CASEY! WE NEED A TV_!!” he yelled. “NEEEEED~”  
Leo held the speaker and glared over at his brother.  
_“TV, huh? Well you’re in luck! I happen to have one right here. And an air mattress. And some old kitchenware from my dad’s attic… **if** you’re interested….”_  
    “That would be perfect! It’s exactly what we need!”  
    _“I know. I’m awesome like that. Oh, but I can’t really stay. If Red suspects I’m trying to cop out of studying again, she’ll probably go postal. But I’m out for pizza now. I can meet you guys half way.”_  
    “Roger that,” Leo smiled. “Thanks Casey. It means a lot.”  
    “It means a lot to me too,” Mikey’s mouth watered eagerly. Though it may have been difficult for him to hear Casey through the phone, Mikey had a sixth sense when it came to the word pizza.  
  _“No problem,”_ Casey insisted. _“See ya there!”_  
    The call ended and Leonardo tucked both the phone and the picture safely away in his pocket.  
    “If you’re going, take the West or Southeastern tunnel,” Donnie suggested. “Those should be the safest.”  
Leo shrugged. “He’s probably just going to meet us on south anyways. You’re not coming?”  
    “Nah. I think I’m just going to stay and finish this up…”  
    “Well there’s no way I’m not going!” Mikey piped. “Somebody has to carry New TV to her new home. Plus! I heard pizza~”  
    Raph’s eyes widened. _“Oh no!”_ he cracked  sarcastically. “What will _Hamaryllis_ think?”  
    “It’s _Hamantha_ ,” Mikey made a face and stuck out his tongue at his brother.  
    Leo rolled his eyes. “You coming, Raph?”  
     _“...Um…”_ Raph thought it over a moment, his mind quick with the math. “…You guys go ahead. I’m gonna finish patchin’ up the walls.”  
    Leo shrugged. “Alright. Let’s go, Mikey.”  
     _“Oh yeah!! PIZZAAA~!!!_ ” He cheered running out into the tunnel and Leo followed, knocking him upside the head as he passed. “… _Ow._ ”  
\--  
    Donnie’s eyes fell to the many colored wires that threaded beneath his fingertips. He was well aware of Raph’s decision to hang back to finish patching but he wasn’t going to think about it… He was just going to keep doing for the security systems.  
    But while his fingers moved to their task, his mind was somewhere else entirely. It had been all day.  
    It was strange. Yesterday he had been so sure of what to do and say about the situation with him and Raphael. At least, he had been pretty sure. The logic seemed to have lined up perfectly then, but today…  
    He couldn’t even look at him. It was as if he was hyper aware of his every move.   
     He felt completely distracted. And it showed again in those small burns on his fingertips.   
    What was it about today? Was it the whole shower thing this morning? Sure, that had been… a bit surprising  perhaps but… it hardly warranted…  
    “Don…. Donnie! **HEY NERD BREATH!** ”  
    Donnie blinked and whirled around with a yelp of surprise, his shell crashing into the wall as he stared unprepared at his brother.  
    Raph stared. An eye ridge raised beneath his red mask. “Subtle.”  
    “Raph! Hi! Subtle. Yes… NO,” he blathered.  
    “…….Ya know I originally came in here lookin’ for the quarter inch socket. Now I’m thinkin’ more of beatin’ ya over the head with it.”  
    Donnie lowered his eyes guiltily. “Raph I’m sorry.”  
    “It’s okay. While you were deep in La La Land reuinitin’ with your inner nerd, I already finished my work on the wall and took the liberty of goin’ through your bookcase.” Raph held the forbidden book up with one hand, letting the smutty pages haphazardly fall open and dangle in front of his face. “I found it this mornin’ in the living room and fanned it out. _Thank goodness_ I snatched it up before Mikey did.” He grinned. “That bein’ said I think I’ve earned a few minutes of _quality readin’ time_.” He turned around and threw himself into Donnie’s chair with a flourish.  
    All Donnie could do was just stood there blankly. “…I give up,” he muttered. He wasn’t even going to fight it this time.  “You’re… _impossible_!” Frustrated hands went back to the wires.   
    What had he been so nervous about?! He was the same typical Raph he always was, just trying to get under his skin. Toy with his emotions!  
     Maybe that’s what all of this was. Just him, flaunting his power over him just because he could. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time….  
    That heat found its way to his cheeks. A bare wire crossed his skin and he pulled his hand back at the harsh electric zap.  
  _…Why was he so strung out?!_  
    “…Hey Don. I’ve made it to the next chapter.”  
    “…Wonderful.”  
    “Gotta say the last one was _riveting_. A real _educational_ page turner… Yellow tab material!  In fact, I was wonderin’ if you could offer a little insight…”  
    Suddenly the book was inches from his face, paged to the image of a woman dressed in naught but knotted rope splayed erotically over a table in wait.  
    Donatello’s eyes widened in shock, his face flushed a cherry red and he quickly shut his eyes.  
    But Raph’s devilish smirk still seared his senses.  
    “I know right?! I was surprised too!”   
    He was picking on him again. Like he was his plaything!  
    And something snapped inside Donnie. If Raphael wanted his ‘ _insight_ ’, he’d give insight.  
    Donatello took a deep breath and he opened his eyes. He stared at that picture. He took in every curve and intricate detail. He committed it to memory.  
    “So whaddaya think?”  
    His eyes wandered to Raph’s smug expression and he turned coolly back to his wires. “Well…” he began, “it’s clear that whoever the gentleman was that… _tied her that way_ , took care she was fastened in a way that would not at all harm her circulation. If you look to Image A you will notice the common square or _reef_ knot, as is common practice with simple bondage techniques, however; her wrists and ankles are actually bound with a fisherman’s loop, which, while it will heighten senses and serve well in restraint, will not tighten at all with her struggle. Lastly, her breasts have been cleverly tied off with a _Lover’s Knot_ , an old, simplistic bend commonly honored by sailors, originally derived from traditions of the ancient Celts…. I’m sure she and her lover will have a lovely evening.”   
    Raph just stood statue still, completely stunned that Donnie had turned his teasing against him.  
    Donnie paused. “Is that all you wanted?”  
    Raph blinked and glanced down at the book. And the words fell out of his mouth before he could really stop them. “Do you seriously know how to tie all those?”  
    Donnie raised a brow. “….Most of them are common knots we all know from training… Besides the lover’s knot… which is just a sort of fisherman’s knot pulled tight.”   
    At his brother’s following silence, he reached back into his red toolbox and retrieved a few short lengths and began to tie.  
    And Raph watched, slightly unnerved as his eyes hardly needed to stray downward. His hands never paused, turning the lines over and under until, in no time at all, it was complete. And he dropped the finished line to the table.  
    “A Lover’s Knot.”  
    Raph stared, no words in his head.  
    “Fun fact: there is another similar version that is so tight that it will sooner break before becoming undone…” he laughed. “Imagine being tied up with _that_!”  
    Still Raphael was quiet. He wasn’t sure if Donnie’s fighting back was supposed to be sarcastic, educational or…   
    Something sexual.  
    Donnie’s eyes narrowed dangerously.   
    And Raphael coolly found his voice. “…A’right,” he conceded. “…I’ll admit I deserved that.”  
    Donnie waited and in the quiet he sensed the change of atmosphere, the shift in Raph’s demeanor and his brown eyes softened. “…Can we talk?”


	14. Night Visitor

**Chapter 14. Night Visitor**  
  
    Raph crouched low. The slow cold spread over his skin as he scanned the contents of the mini fridge.  
    At least they had _something_. There were two sodas left inside, just as Donnie had said there would be. So Raphael reached in and plucked the bottles from their plastic and made his way out from the garage and back down the hall to Donatello’s room, trying to align his thoughts into some kind of construct.   
    But they were a million and none. And in no time at all he was back inside, his brother waiting patiently atop his bed with an empty space seated beside him.  
    Raph lowered his gaze, pushing the cream soda to Donnie’s palm and sat down uneasily beside him. The bed was cold and soaked, the mattress sinking low and groaning with his weight, so much so he worried it might not be able to hold from the flood.  
    But time proved it sturdy. And in it they found that terrible quiet they had both been trying to avoid.  
    Donnie was the first to kill it, popping the lid loudly off the bottle with his thumb. The carbonation hissed its freedom and Raphael followed suit, watching until all the hysterical bubbles settled low and he tipped it back, his mind still scaling buildings.  
    Donnie turned his glass nervously over in his hand. “….I’m not mad you know.”  
    Raph paused.  
    “To be honest, I’m not even disturbed by it really…. I just… want to understand.”  
    “…There ain’t nothin’ _to_ understand. I said it yesterday. I took a joke too far.” Raph said and he quickly took a long draw of his cola.  
    But Donnie was firm. “…I don’t buy it,” he replied evenly.  
    “Ya don’t have to— _Look_ , I got a lot goin’ on… n’ I ended up takin’ a lot of it out on you……. And yeah, I persisted… cuz I thought it _might_ be what I wanted at the time, but it isn’t. So now I just want it over with.” He tried to sound casual; his fist clenched darkly around his drink, wishing he could be anywhere but here. “……I’ve been real messed up since Spike left… And it… kinda went double after what happened to Karai.”  
    Those words were indeed barbs to their memory. The mutation situation some years back hadn’t exactly gone smoothly for everyone. Slash had lost his mind to a double mutation and had been taken a prisoner of the Kraang. And as for Karai….  
    Donnie shut his eyes, not wanting to go there, swallowing down that burning guilt that always came with her name.  
    “….It just seems like we’re doomed to lose everythin’ but each other,” Raph muttered, “And when I think about that… sometimes it feels like I’ll go nuts.”  
    Donnie was quiet, but he understood that, more than he knew. There were some days it was downright scary.  And they both knew they weren’t supposed to think like that.    
    But they did. Every one of them had.  
    They were warriors. Fighting together. Bound to this crazy life of adventure and danger. They weren’t supposed to think about _‘what if’s_ or _‘more’._  
    And while none of these quite answered the other questions swirling about in Donatello’s head, he listened, following vaguely where Raph’s thoughts intersected and he chose his words carefully. “……I… know this might be kind of a Mikey thing to say but… I think we’ll be okay. We’re ninjas!” He smiled kindly. “And if our lives have proved anything, it’s that life’s pretty unpredictable.”  
    Raph glanced over to his brother, the truth laced unkindly with lies. “Y-Yeah…”   
    But the brown in his eyes made him nervous. They lingered there too long so Raphael rose to his feet, ready to close this all down and make his escape.   
    “So… yeah,” he finished, “I don’ need some long drawn out rejection from ya...”  
     _“…Reject?”_ Donnie blinked at that, a bit surprised by the word. “I wasn’t going to reject you!” He shifted uncomfortably and looked away. “A-Actually…”  
    **_“GUESS WHO GOT A NEW TV?!?!”_** At that moment, Mikey came barreling into the room at top speed, skate-screeching to a halt right in the center with their new box television raised high above his head as though he had received a gift from above. “ _GUYS!!! ....Isn’t she beautiful?!”_ he squeaked.  
     Raph’s fists clenched with rage. “MIKEY!”  
    His brother beamed widely, unaware of his interruption and immediately moving to one of his patented victory dances. Leo staggered in the doorway right behind him, a heavy box in his arms, looking just as excited.   
     “We scored huge!” he insisted eagerly. “Come give us a hand!”  
     Raph internally sputtered and seethed; the physical urge to drop-kick both Leo and Mikey out of the room never so fierce on his mind.  
    “U-um…” Donnie looked over, a sort of heat crept its way to his face and he quickly ran off to help. “W-What…? Um…” he cleared his throat. “What did you find?”  
    “A lot. It turns out Casey’s dad was totally trying to clean house, getting rid of nearly all the old stuff from their attic!” Leo looked at them seriously. “We have a grill.”  
    “A grill?” Donnie blinked. “…And it _works_?”  
    “What are we gonna grill in the sewer?!” Raph growled irritably, still strongly considering the drop-kick option.  
    Oh, he _tried_ to keep calm but it was driving him crazy! What was Donnie was about to say? That one word turned over, igniting possibilities and an excited, sick little hope in his stomach until Raphael realized Leo had been talking to him the whole time and he hadn’t heard a thing.  
    “Yeah!” Mikey piped in.  “A VCR _and_ DVD player! Do you even know what this means?!” He stared at them seriously. When they didn’t answer, Mikey thrust his arm deep into the recesses of the box, rummaging around at the bottom before promptly plucking a movie from the others. “IT MEANS THIS!” He exclaimed, shoving it in their faces. “Terror Rangers: The Last Dimension!” He stared at them seriously. “I don’t care _what_ plans you have we are watching this _now_.”  
    “…N-Now?” Donnie stepped back awkwardly, his eyes turning back to his unfinished wires, but Mikey would not have it. He grabbed Donnie and Raph both by the wrists and eagerly started to pull.  
    “AUGH!”     “Hey!”     “Wait!”  
    They stumbled awkwardly as Mikey dragged them out into the living room to an old, plush brown futon neither of them had ever seen before. And he gave them a shove, sending them both tripping over their feet and onto the futon right on top of one another.  
  _“OOF!!”  
    “YAGH!”_  
    “Awesome isn’t it?” Mikey beamed with joy.  
    Leo’s hands hastened to get the TV fitted perfectly to its perch and immediately set to hooking up all of the cables. “It’s a little small,” he admitted, “but it’ll serve as something until we can make a trip out to the junk yard. In the meantime, I think it makes it all feel a little more like home.”  
    Donnie and Raph looked over, realizing they were still very much on top of each other and quickly scrambled up, retreating as far away as the futon would allow.  
    Though its small size didn’t allow for much and Donatello’s eyes turned nervously over the new piece of furniture beneath him. “….When did you guys set this up?”  
    Mikey popped up beside him and immediately pushed a finger to Donnie’s lips. “Shhhhhhh. Obvious questions later.” And with that, he thrust a small bag of popcorn to Donnie’s chest, his own giant tub half his size in the crook of his arm and he scrambled down to the floor, feet kicking behind him in excitement as the soft glow of their new TV filled the expanse of the room.  
    Leonardo finished up with the cords and made himself comfortable on the floor against the arm of the futon remote ready in hand. Mikey’s eyes grew comically wide, already shoveling fistful after of fistful of popcorn in his cheeks… and the movie hadn’t even begun!  
    “Are we ready?” Leo hyped.  
    “I was BORN READY! Push play bro~” His feet kicked faster.  
    Leo laughed. “Alright, alright.”   
    He had to admit he was excited too. They had been waiting to see this movie since forever! So he eagerly pushed play and the opening credits filled the room in its exciting dynamic. The music played… the screen leapt through its many faded colors…   
    But to the two sitting on the futon, the plot was all but lost. Their eyes held fast to the screen, fighting the urge not to sneak small peeks and fleeting glances.  
    Raphael tried to relax and be casual, attempting make himself comfortable on his end of the small space.   
    But it was rather hard to do. The futon was just so small...   
    Mikey glanced back, silently offering Raph a bit of popcorn from his giant bucket.  
    “Uh! Yeah… thanks,” Raph readily took a fistful and he settled back, stretching his arm along the back of the couch as he normally did … his hand thoughtlessly brushing over the back of Donnie’s mask. He jolted at the touch and quickly pulled back. Donnie blushed and cleared his throat, shifting awkwardly in his seat.  
    Raph shoved the entirety of his share of popcorn into his mouth in embarrassment, trying throwing all the attention he could into the movie.  
    Though the out-of-context dialogue hardly helped.  
     _ **~“Jack, have you lost your mind? …This is the last thing anyone needs! Why, it could tear apart the very foundation of this team!”  
    ~“Perhaps I have lost my mind, Short Stout, but you know what? It’s the only thing I can think about…. And you’ve been thinking about it too.”**  
_    One side view glance caused another.  
     _ **~”…W-What about the Sheshoygan Tribe… and their people?!”  
    ~“…Well, perhaps what they don’t know won’t hurt them.” ****BJOOM** **“OH NO! Watch out, Short Stout! Trouble afoot! …It’s the dreaded SPACE KRACKEN! Terror Rangers… COMBINE…. ELITE… POWER!”**  
_     By the end it had degenerated to full on stares. The lasers and actions on the screen but white noise… only conscious of one another and the fact that their other two brothers were sitting so close.  
    It was maddening. And that daring urge flashed in his mind again. If he crossed that space between them right now and kissed Donnie, would anybody notice?  
    _.....No._ That was a terrible, foolish brush of thought. He was almost ashamed by it. And so their gaze broke once more, turning back towards to screen’s lights.   
    But now Raph was sure. That _‘Actually’_ back there had meant something. He wasn’t in this by himself. He wasn’t making this up. There really _was_ something.   
    Raph was so deep in his mental musings, he nearly missed Donnie pull the T-phone out from his belt pocket, his fingers taking quietly to the screen, before discreetly hiding it away.  
  _Vvvvvvv_  
    Within seconds the small light and vibration kicked to Raph’s pocket and he glimpsed over, sneaking a peek the screen. It was a text.  
\- - - - - - - - - - - -      
 _Received from:  Donnie  
Message:  
  
  
>\-->  This has to stop._  
\- - - - - - - - - - - -      
    Raph peeked over again.   
    How was _he_ the one telling _him_ to stop? _He_ was the one who had been checking him out all day……  
    Not that he needed to point that out. He had already promised himself, _Shell’s Honor_ , that he wasn’t going to make any more moves on Don or make things any more complicated than he already had... chemistry weirdness aside.  
    But that one word still jarred his thoughts leaving that itching question to his fingertips.  
    And he sent his text.

\- - - - - - - - - - - -      
 _Received from:  Raph_  
 _Message:_

 

_< \--< …You said **"Actually…"** What were you going to say back there?_  
\- - - - - - - - - - - -    

    Raph watched that small bit of color rush to his face as he read the words, that small conflict turn in his eye.  
    And soon he got his reply.  
 __  
\- - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
>\--> Nothing… Just some science stuff was all.  
\- - - - - - - - - - - -      
    …

_\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
   _   
_< \--< I’ve got time._   
_\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -_

  
    As soon as he sent it, Raph had a second thought and immediately sent another. 

_\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
   _  
_< \--< Look we didn’t finish talkin’. I say we finish up after the movie when everyone’s asleep…. Fair?_  
 _\- - - - - - - - - - - - - -_  
  

    Raph hid his phone away and turned blankly back to the television, awaiting his reply and was surprised to instead hear his voice.  
     _“…Fair,_ ” the whisper agreed.  
    And with their agreement set, they turned their attention firmly back to the plot. Apparently a terrible fate had befallen Short Stout in battle, as Jack was on his knees beside his fallen comrade.  
    _ **~“SHORT STOUT SPEAK TO ME!!!”** He shook him violently by the neck, though to no avail. **“NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! WHY MUST THE GOOD DIE YOUNG?!?!”  
    ~“He tackled a space monster, Jack.”  
    ~“He must have grown careless! ….Luckily I… HAVE… LASERS!!!” ****BJOOM BJOOMBJOOMBJOOM**  
_     “…So awesome,” Mikey murmured, wiping his eyes.  
    Leo paused his eating sadly. “Poor Short Stout.”  
    “I KNOW!” Mikey said through stuffed cheeks. “It’s so sad~!” He looked back at Donnie “…Popcorn bro?” he offered again.  
    “Um… y-yes. Thank you.” He took a handful.   
    Raph took a fistful as well, still trying his best not to think about Donnie. He didn’t want to seem weird or overly excited. It was just a normal conversation right? There was no need to be excited.  
    Oh, he wished Leo and Mikey would just get lost or go to sleep or something!  
    _'….No. Pay attention to the movie._ ' His eyes glazed over as he stared in disinterest. He just couldn’t get into it. Even if he tried to at this point it wouldn’t make any sense. All the colors meant nothing and everything just blurred together.  
    ...How long did he have to sit here anyways?   
    Raph yawned a little and eventually his eyes started to droop.  
\--  
    Heavy eyes blinked up at the credits and Donnie took measure around the sleeping room. Mikey had long flopped into his popcorn and was snoring loudly through the buttery goodness. Leo slumped over in his seat, count fifteen seconds away from drooling. And Raph, well, he had hardly made it halfway through.  
    Though perhaps that was a bit of a good thing. They could reschedule to another night perhaps… one where they were both awake….  
    Or… something. Donnie got up, rolling out the painful crick in his neck. The futon was nice and all, but it was just a bit too small for him to get comfortable. And with one more glance back he slunk quietly to his bedroom, shutting the door. His thoughts momentarily wandered over to the security system, the last few wires remained undone, but he shrugged it off. He was just too tired tonight. There was no harm in finishing it up first thing in the morning.  
    It was then he remembered the awful state his bed was in.   
    But, Leo _did_ say they had gotten a new air mattress. It was somewhere in their new box. Donnie knelt down and began to rummage when something pricked his finger. “Yow!” He pulled his hand back as some kind of small bug scurried from the box and out of sight.  
    Donnie peeked inside. He didn’t see anything too sharp inside, besides a few of the new tools.   
    It was probably just a bug or a cockroach.  
    Nevertheless, he found the air mattress and set it up. It was pretty easy and in no time it at all it was of decent size. It looked comfortable enough. All he needed now was a blanket.  
    He looked over to his bed. The flood had soaked through all of his. But there _was_ one out in the other room… right by Leo, if he remembered correctly.  
    Donnie peeked back out into the main room and, sure enough, the blanket lay just where he remembered and he crept out, snatched it up, hurried back to the room, shutting the door behind him.  
    Though it was carelessly loud and one of his brothers stirred awake from the sound.   
     _“_ …Don?”  
\--  
    Donnie set up his bed and climbed inside just as his name reached his ears and there was a shuffling at the door.   
     _Raph._  
    Donnie thought about it a moment and quickly pulled up the covers over his head and turned away, shutting his eyes to feign sleep just as Raphael opened the door.  
    “…Hey, you awake?”  
    When no answer came, Raph finally shut the door and lumbered off to leave him to sleep.  
    But Donnie didn’t sleep just yet. Instead he laid there, lingering idly over the low tumble in his voice and the warm sensation that it brought. He thought about how he had looked in those stolen glances when he was sure no one was looking. The way the lights flashed over the curves of his skin... the twittering shake of his nerves that rolled to the pit of his stomach.  
    Maybe he _was_ coming down with something.  
\-- _ **  
Scritch…. Scritchscritch…. Scritch**_  
    It was so soft, but in the waning hours of their rest it was the only sound there was.  
    _ **Scritch….. Scriiiiiiiiitch scritchscritch**  
_  
    _Donnie’s eyes fluttered awake and he listened blearily into the room. It seemed like…. something had woken him up…  
    But all he heard were small, insignificant sounds. Leo and Mikey’s snores.…The tiny fizzle of the TV left on in the other room...   
    Perhaps that had been it?  
    He turned over to his nightstand. The digital red of his alarm clock read 3:01 blinking lazily off beat to the sound of snores.  
    Blinking… **Blinking**.  
    Wait. Something wasn’t right. The only time that ever happened was… if…. the power had somehow been tripped in the middle of the night and…. turned back on again…..  
    And that’s when Donnie heard a low scuttle at the foot of the bed. Chillingly close. Donnie bolted over his nightstand, pulling the cord to his lamp.  
    Once. Twice. Three times to light.  
    And it was there he found a lone cockroach, staring up at him from the end of the makeshift bed and scurried away to retreat from the light.   
    Donnie let out a sigh of relief.  
     A cockroach. That’s what he had he been so scared of? He shook his head and turned out his light. And immediately he found himself staring into a pair of glowing red eyes and jagged teeth only feet away from his bed, hissing that terrible scent of rancid mutagen and drool through its teeth.  
    Donnie’s voice strangled in his throat, gripping still.  
    A quick flash of spinning steel sent his lamp crashing to the floor and as Donnie tried to get away he felt sharp sets of pains in his leg. He tossed the blanket aside to find thousands of tiny eyes and chainsaws filled his bed. And they began their deafening chorus:  
    ChickaChicka **ChickaChickaCHICKACHICKACHICKACHICKA**  
    Donnie screamed and staggered out from his bed but they were everywhere. All over his walls. All over him. “NO! AUGH! STOP IT! GET OFF! GET…. GET AWAY FROM ME!!!”_  
_**“AAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!!!”**_ Donnie bolted from his bed in a sweat, heart racing. He kicked out from the covers, nearly tripping on his own feet. He bolted out of the room, down the hall, not stopping until he reached Raph’s door, pounding on it in a panic.   
    Raph opened immediately.  
     "He's back!” he wailed. “The chainbugs they're in my room! Mutadroid, he…!”  
    Raph’s eyes widened, not needing to hear anymore, grabbed his sai and pushed past him. Donnie followed close behind, meeting Leo and Mikey at the door.   
    “What happened?!”  
     _“Shh,”_ Raph hushed Leo, motioning quietly to the door. Leo instantly understood and crouched low, wrapping his hand slowly around the hilt of his blade. Raph nodded and opened the door, both ready to the attack…  
    But there was nothing. There were no bugs. No Mutadroid. Not one thing in the room stood out of place and after a long draw, the four finally relaxed their weapons.  
    “…Uhhhh dude…?” Mikey looked over confused.  
    Donnie just stared into the space. He didn’t understand. He stepped inside, spinning around. "But... I saw them,” he insisted.  
    His brothers exchanged a set of looks.   
    “I swear!” he insisted. “Mutadroid was right over there!” It was real! He could still see those beady red eyes crawling all over him. He went to his bedside, shucking the blankets away… only to find a lone pillow and messed sheets.  
    “. . .Right,” Leo answered.  
    “ _No!_ He _was_ here! He really was! Mutadroid was right over there! And the bugs…” He looked wildly about him and again his brothers exchanged looks. _“I’m serious!”_ he said firmly. “I’m not making this up! My lamp! He even…”  
    Donnie turned around, but the lamp on his nightstand was upright, perfectly in place. The digital red struck its regular 3:02.  
    “I-I…”  
    He didn’t understand. How? How was this possible?  
    “…Ya sure you aren’t trippin’, D?” Mikey wondered.  
     Donnie gaped. “No! I’m not…!”  
    “Come on,” Leo yawned groggily. “Let’s go to back to sleep…” He lumbered lazily towards the door and Mikey followed.  
    “ _Ugh_ , I’m with ya.”  
    “No!” Donnie insisted. “I’m telling you…”  
    “Donnie, we’re all tensed out after the attack, but there’s nothing here,” Leo reasoned. “Whatever you saw, it was probably just a dream.” And with that, both Leo and Mikey both retired to their bedrooms.  
    Only Raph lingered behind at the door.  
    “… _You_ believe me, don’t you?”  
    Raph truly didn't know _what_ to think about the situation, but there was no way Donnie would lie. Stranger things had happened to them. And dream or not, Donnie was scared.   
    He rubbed the back of his neck and finally put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "...Yeah, I believe ya," And with that, he turned out for the door. "C'mon, you can stay in my room tonight."  
    Donnie froze in his tracks and Raph looked back. “No one’s makin’ ya. Just stand there if ya like.” And with that he continued on.  
    Donnie hesitated, but there was no way he wanted to be left alone. Not after that. So he pushed his thoughts aside and nervously followed Raph to his bedroom.   
  
  
    No one was there to hear the chainsaw slide gently against the floor, the shadow capturing every detail of the dark room… pausing at one particularly interesting picture on Donnie's wall of a red-haired girl in a heart shaped frame.


	15. Parapraxis

**Chapter 15: Parapraxis  
**  
    Donnie blinked and picked up his feet, following behind at a reasonably nervous distance.   
    Raph’s room. When was the last time he’d really been there? Probably not since they were kids. They just never _bro-ed out_ that often anymore, at least, not just the two of them. He used to often seek refuge there when they were little from nightmares or whatnot… when Raph wasn’t picking on him….   
    Come to think of it, maybe that’s why he’d stopped coming.  
    His musings came to a halt as the two stood before the steel Stop-signed door. Donnie’s heart twittered and tripped a little in his chest. It was the same feeling he got right before he stepped into enemy lines—caught standing on the edge of his own element.  
    This was Raphael’s territory. Raph’s space, Raph’s haven… Raph’s bed. And while this place never possessed such otherworldly characteristics before, as Raphael pushed past the viable warning and led them inside, there was something about it that made him feel as though he had cast himself into the Exposed.  
    His heart leaped to his throat, his eyes quickly ambled along the familiar posters of action movies on the wall, to the drum-set in the corner…. anywhere to distract himself from the glaring single bed that ruled the space.  
    But it was impossible to ignore. And soon the quiet panic set his mouth dry.  
    “U-uh… Um….”  
    Raphael hardly noticed the state of his nerves, rummaging through a large wooden trunk at foot of the bed. And now Donnie’s thoughts ran a little wild.  
    One bed. _Of course there was only one bed!_ That was fine. H-He and Raph would obviously have to share. That was fine.   
    The bed was… average. Twin sized. Approximately 38 by 75 inches long. Everything was totally normal and fine. That could totally fit two giant mutant turtles…. comfortably….  
    Donatello didn’t notice the blushed, frightened look on his face as his brain further careened into delusion. He quickly started doing the math, imagining the two of them trying to occupy that small space… their bodies practically crushed together…. Raph’s body heat….  
    He almost forgot how to breathe.  
    “You take the bed, Donnie.”  
     _“…H-H-Huh, what?!”_ The words jarred him violently from his thoughts. It was only now he noticed Raph was completely on the other side of the room, carefully moving his drum set from its regular place to the wayside.  
    Donnie looked around. It took a moment to re-process his words, nervously twirling his fingers. “…W-Where will _you_ sleep?”  
    Raph glanced back and unfurled the long roll of brown fabric he’d tucked under his arm. “I found this hammock a while back I’ve been meanin’ to try—figured tonight’s a good night for it,” he answered and casually tossed a line up to the single jetting pipe that ran through the ceiling above.  
    Donnie blinked. Well, that was… chivalrous of him.  
    _….Maybe.  
_    Though it did leave Donnie feeling slightly guilty for robbing him of his bedroom comfort. “A-Are you sure?” he ventured.  
    Raph gave him a look. “...Unless _ya want me_ to sleep in the same bed as you.” His voice carried that sarcastic edge.  
    Donnie’s eyes grew wide. “N-nnn-no. I’m good!” he stammered quickly.  
    Raph fastened the last line off, and, satisfied it was sturdy, went to gather an extra pillow and blanket from the trunk. “…So are ya just gonna stand there like some awkward green twig or do you plan on sleepin’ at some point?”  
    Donnie instantly stiffened. “Um! YES!” He picked up his feet, walking briskly over to the bed and sat down.  
    “Blanket’s on the floor,” he ordered.  
    As per invitation, Donnie deftly pulled the old Chinese tiger-print comforter from the floor and up to his chest as Raphael stood back to lazily admire his work.   
    “Not bad,” he complimented himself. If it was comfortable he might consider making it a permanent feature. So Raph pushed the pillow and blanket inside, situating them just so and carefully balanced and maneuvered his way inside; settling in and he stared up at the concrete ceiling in thought.  
    “Yep,” he decided. “Definitely a good idea.” He turned around to face the wall. “G’night, Donnie.”  
    “….Goodnight.”  
    “And… hey…” he glanced back at second thought. “…Don’t worry about that thing comin’ back, okay? I’ve got your back.”  
    Donnie nodded carefully. “…Thank you, Raph.”  
    “No problem,” he answered. “G’night Don.”  
    “Goodnight.”  
    The light turned out. Raphael turned back to the wall and all was quiet.  
    Too quiet. _Painfully_ so.  
    But that was how it should be. Raphael shut his eyes tight. Donnie’s presence was like an exclamation point in the room, glaring into the back of his shell….  
    But he refused to look back. He had an obligation and an image to keep. It was his job to make sure Donnie felt comfortable and safe for the night. And that was _exactly_ what he was going to do. Questions and conversations about earlier events could remain at a stale-mate until tomorrow.  
    He kind of preferred it that way anyway. He was much too tired… nerve-struck as he was. It was time for him to be the big brother. And so he kept to the wall and to the quiet.  
    But lying beneath the pale glow of the jack-o-lantern night light, Donnie was as far away from sleep as he could be. His eyes trailed carefully over to his brother. The small, golden light traced perfect patterns along the back of his shell…. from the nape of his neck, all the way down the subtly pronounced curve of his spine….  
    Raph shifted a little in the hammock and Don’s eyes darted away. After a moment, he adjusted as well, pulling the old comforter to his chin and nestling deeper into the pillows, if only just to wreck the silence.  
    And although the comforter still vaguely held that regular funk of age and sewer must, there was also something in it that was distinctly Raphael’s.   
    It was…. heady—masculine.  
    His toes curled, acutely aware of the almost sinful way it filled his nose. But it was all so comfortable. He shut his eyes and lazily turned over each note in his head.  
    Leather.  
    --Metal.  
    Sweat…   
    …Bravery.  
     _Raph_.  
    Donnie eyes opened once more and that hushed light mapped every detail. Every curve and arch of muscle…. the strong carriage of his body….  
    It... definitely complimented his features nicely, he thought. Almost confusingly so. And it somehow drew from him a small wish that he wasn't so far away.  
    …Though that was absurd, right? Perhaps it was just an after effect of his nightmare…. the small, uneasiness of not wanting to be alone after a fright.  
    “…R-Raph?” His voice was small, the question just a nervous point of venture.  
    But no answer returned except for the slow even breaths of sleep. Both disappointed and relieved, Donatello’s eyes then swept to the dull cracks and funny stains in the brick above and he began to pick the situation apart once more.  
    …That Raph, his brother, wanted him. Desired him.  
    ….What did that even mean?!  
    He had tried to align the events together several times now, arranging them like variables to a complex equation. And they all had him leaning on the conclusion that this was something…. _physical_.   
    Which…. it wasn’t like they were _completely_ unfamiliar to this aspect of their nature. There were many exercises in ninjitsu alone that dealt with this sort of thing. Master Splinter had always taken into account both their physical and mental maturity. He was sure every one of them had their own unique coping means.  
    But _Raph_ …  
    Donnie swallowed. What he was toying with was something crazy! Completely taboo! And the messed up part was, while science dictated he should be _completely_ disturbed and repulsed by the notion, there was something about it that repeatedly gave him pause.  
    And that was sort of confusing… but… he sort of understood his brother’s frustration.  
    T-That…. didn’t mean they should cross certain boundaries or anything, of course! That would be completely wrong…… and…. complicated….  
    Donnie sighed sleepily. That scent filled his senses once more and his thoughts grew murky, eyelids heavy with the prospect of sleep.  
    ….Raph really smelled good.  
\--  
.  
     _Breathe_.  
    Donnie’s eyes flew open, instantly awakened by his own discomfort. His chest felt heavy and taut. Actually, _all of him_ did. His muscles…. His shell…. It was almost uncomfortable for him to breathe.  
    It was like he had gotten his butt kicked by every one in the Foot Clan _twice_ … only he had somehow managed to escape with no injury….   
     _That_ , or he had engaged in some psycho-extensive training session in his sleep.  
    It was weird. And there seemed to be no perceivable reason for it.  
    Grunting in discomfort, Donnie forced himself upright and stretched his arms out as far as they could go, idly looking over to the hammock beside him.   
    That’s right. He had slept in Raph’s room last night. Raph must have woken up before him. Donnie swung a leg over the side of the bed and again felt that tightness clutch at his insides once more and he grasped the edge of his bed.  
He almost felt a little… woozy.  
    Perhaps he had slept weird…. or… maybe, Raph’s bed was too small…?  
    He wasn’t sure what it was or… what to think of it. All he knew was something smelled really good out in the main room. Really, _really_ good.  
    Whatever Mikey was cooking, he wanted it.  
    No. He _needed_ it.  
    Donatello’s eyes dilated, his fingers twisting strangely into the bedsheets and with a shuddering growl he got up and stalked his way to the main room.  
\--  
    Raph quirked a brow beneath his mask and shook his head pitifully down at his younger brother.   
    It was almost too sad to watch.  
    … _Almost_.  
    “There is _no way_ this is gonna work. Face it, Mikey! Ya can’t break Master Splinter. You heard what he said last night about being resourceful...”  
    “I’m _done_ being resourceful,” he replied curtly.  
    “Hey, I don’t like it any more than you do.” Raph leaned back lazily against the wall, his arms folded to his chest in thought. “We have algae and worms down by the pools.”  
    “I’m not _about_ that life anymore, Raph!” Mikey turned exasperated on his heel. “I’m tired of this! I’m a _teenager_! I have needs~! And one of those is pizza.” He pulled out a picture from his belt pocket and trailed his fingers down it lovingly. “…I’m afraid soon I’ll start to forget the sweet touch of your stuffed crust~” he murmured.  
    Raph just stared dully at his brother. It was simply too early in the evening for his antics. “Will ya just… think of somethin’ already?!” he snapped. “I’m starvin’ here!”  
    “I have and I will. Watch and learn, bro.”   
    Mikey reached over the counter and dipped his fingers into what appeared to be some kind of jar of pink paint and smeared a few lines across his freckled cheeks. His eyes narrowed seriously and he pulled out what appeared to be a ceremonial necklace made of congealed ham and garlic and, closing his eyes, hung it over his shoulders.  
    Raphael wrinkled his nose in disgust, vaguely wondering where he had been hiding that.  
    Again. Too early for his antics.  
    Mikey then sat down crisscross in the center of the floor and he pulled his knees pulled in tight… an unusual sharpness set into his features. He became a picture of focus, almost eerily similar to the way Leo did before he meditated.   
    He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and….  
     _“Hohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm~”_  
    Raph watched in irritable disinterest, wondering idly how long he could keep that up before he needed to breathe.  
  _“Hohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmm~”_  
    Leonardo heard the sound and paused from the dojo door, looking in on the unusual scene and turned to Raph. “What is he doing?”  
    _“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm—”_  
    “…Not makin’ breakfast apparently!!” He yelled down, but again he was ignored with another obnoxious:  
     _“Hohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmm!!!”_  
    Hunger churned over in his stomach, and in a fit of lost patience, Raph stormed into the kitchen to make something for himself.   
He could punch Mikey later. Food time was now.  
    Leo, however, still stared at the unsettling scene, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Mikey doesn’t meditate.”  
    It was true. Despite he and Sensei trying to get him into the exercise, it was no secret to anyone that meditating probably ranked in the top three of activities he hated doing the most…   
    Right up there with cleaning his room, the Hashi, sewage sloshing and gauging his eyes out.  
    But right now Raph was far too hungry to care, angrily rummaging around for his choice of pots and items from the cupboard.   
    They had ham, algae, worms, a handful of noodles and some spices. It was far from optimal but it was _technically_ food. He grimaced unhappily at the ingredients, but still set it up beneath the can opener and pushed the steel button. But a broken Kraang-ish sound came back in reply.  
    ** _BlereeKp._**  
    “What?!” Raphael frowned deeper and pushed the button again.  
    _ **…Blerrrrreep.** _His eyes narrowed.  
     ** _Blereep. Blereep. Blereep. Blereep_**. The noise grated raw on his nerves, coupled with the increasingly annoying sound of Mikey’s incessant humming and it quickly burnt his fuse. Raph roared in a fit of rage, tearing the entire can opener its socket and hurled it violently down into the counter.  
    “MIKEY!!! WILL YOU STOP THAT ALREADY?! You aren’t meditatin’!”  
    Mikey opened his eyes. “…. It’s called _peaceful protesting!”_ He glared.  
    “It’s called BEIN’ ANNOYING!!”  
    “Raph stop it,” Leo chastised, ready to intercept a further attack when Raph saw Donnie stumble in from the hallway out of the corner of his eye.  
    “Hey, _Brain Nugget_. Get in here and help me get this stupid thing workin’ before I _really_ put the hurt on Mikey.”  
    But Donnie barely heard anything at all.  “What… _smells_ good?” he murmured in a daze, wandering around for that scent teasing his senses.  
    The other three looked at one another.  
    “….Uhhhh…My feet?” Mikey grinned.  
    Donnie sniffed the air carefully. “No, I can smell _that_ …” he muttered, absently continuing on.  
    Leo blinked in surprise at that. “… _Wait_ , you can smell Mikey’s feet from across the lair?”  
    “Well, he _is_ pretty disgusting,” Raph offered. “If I were him, I’d take three showers a day just to try to wash some of the ugly off.”  
    “ _Heyyyyyy_ ,” Mikey wilted a little at the insult and looked to Leo to reprimand him for it, but Leo was instead much more intrigued in Donnie’s new acute sense.  
    “What does it smell like?”  
    “I… I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “I can’t explain it, b-but it’s like…”   
    His thoughts fell apart before he could finish. The scent was suddenly stronger, filling in every corner of his brain… thick, wicked and intoxicating. Donnie rocked a little in his step trying to shake the tingling from his skull.  
    And it didn’t go unnoticed by his brother, Leo. “…Seriously, are you okay? Maybe you should sit down.”  
    “I’m fine. It’s fine,” he insisted and pushed away, finally pulling his senses into focus. “…It’s probably just whatever Mikey’s cooking,” he lied.  
    A set of glances were shared once more by the others.  
    “…Nobody’s cooked anything,” Leo said stiffly.  
    Worry touched in Raphael’s eyes as well. Something was definitely wrong.   
    Could it have something to do with last night?  
    “Yeah, uh…. Well… I’m about to cook somethin’,” he said, turning back towards the cupboard and once again his gaze found the post-rage job he had done on the can opener and sheepishly turned back to Donnie. “…Do ya think you have enough in ya to help me with the can opener? I kinda threw it.”  
    Donnie shuddered a little. There was just a certain element to his voice tonight that seemed to resonate through every nerve ending in his body and make his toes curl. He made his way to the kitchen, eyes low, that scent buzzing in his skull. And when he lifted his eyes he found the heralding green of Raphael’s, that sick tight found home once more the depths of his shell...   
    And at that moment, he just knew…  
    “…Don?”  
    “Y-Yeah… Sure. I’ll…. Help.”  
    “Cool.” Raph reached out and pulled him forward from the wall.   
     The smell. His voice. The warm, rough sensation his scales against his. Donnie’s knees threatened to knock beneath him.  
     _Why?!_ Why was he hyper attuned to him all of a sudden?! And more than usual?! As if life couldn’t get any more weird or difficult!   
    _‘No no no no. Okay, this is fine,_ ’ he mentally chastised himself. He’d just have to play it cool. So what if he was a little… sensitive? It would pass. He didn’t have to make things weird.  
    Raphael turned the punished can opener over in his hands to inspect it. “I don’t _think_ I broke it…”  
     Donnie gave him a look and took it from him, checking it himself for damage. “You didn’t,” he assessed, carefully setting it on its perch. “…What did you do, tear it from the wall and throw it?”  
    “ _Hey_!” he defended, “…Mikey… was bein’ _really_ stupid,” he finished lamely.  
    The answer obviously did not amuse his brother. “…Right.”  He tilted his head a bit, checking among the inner cogs. “…Can you hand me that screwdriver?”  
    Raph’s obliged him the tool on the countertop and watched him, the way his almond eyes swept and scrutinized the tech and cogs, his tongue peeked out in concentration….  
    How did this all used to bug him? Raph rapped his fingers idly along the bar, his eyes stealing hungrily down his carapace and catching his error, tried to shake it off.   
    Man, he _really_ needed to stop doing that. He was starting to act like a real pervert.  
    A creepy, incestuous….  
    “…What were you going to make anyways?”  
    “…I dunno, _food_ ,” he replied. “…… usin’ the least amount of ham possible.”  
    Donnie chuckled. “…Sounds good.”  
    “—Yeah,” he shrugged, “I have my moments.”  
    The screwdriver paused. “…I don’t doubt that.”   
    There was a quiet weight to the phrase and with it Donnie finished the touch, giving the screwdriver one last firm turn. “…Alright. It should be all ready now.”  
    “Cool,” Raph stepped in to take over, suddenly intimately into Donatello’s space. Before he could even react, he had breathed him in, his presence a hostile takeover to his senses and his hands fell dumb to the can opener, the casual, calloused brush of his hand perversely warm.  
    “UM! IT’S NOT READY!” He suddenly shrieked. He scooped the can opener flat to his chest, horror struck of his reaction. “I mean…! I-It _is_ … but… I… it… HOoo… _I’M_ … ready… heh, _so_ ready for you… to… take me… _**IT**_!! I said _‘It’_! Take _**it**_ … Yet _I_ …! Wait… I-I-I-I mean… for _you_ … it isn’t… _hooo!”_ He finished in a strangled squeak, his face burning hot.  
    Raph just stared. And Donnie wished so badly he could swallow his tongue. The silence after was unbearable.  
    “Umm-mm…” He fumbled around with the can opener in his hand and gripped it tighter to him.   
    Unbeknownst to them, beneath the encased steel, a pair red eyes struck a peek, a blade out from its place just to slice into his skin.   
     **“Ow!!”** He yelped sharply and dropped it, but quick to their ninja reflexes both went to catch it before it hit the floor.  
    Raphael caught it first, but not before their skulls collided with a force that knocked sent both sprawling to the floor.  
    “HAGHHHHH!! Urgh.” They clutched their heads and Raph deftly let the can opener rolled to the floor and looked up at his brother. “…You okay?”  
    Donnie tried to rub out the ouch. “…Yeah. I’m fine. You okay?”  
    “With a thick skull like mine… I’ll manage,” he joked. But his smile faded when his gaze fell on his hand. “You’re bleedin’.”  
    Donnie turned his wrist to inspect the wound. A long red slash ran pretty deep through the latter half of his palm. “ _Ah_ jeez,” he winced. “…I swear I keep cutting my hand lately.”  
    Raph scooted closer, procuring a roll of gauze from his belt, not hesitating to treat it. “It’s probably cuz your head’s buried in wires half the time.”  
    Nervous electricity trickled at his touch and Donnie felt warm all over again, blushing like a boy with a crush. He swallowed and licked his lips, drawn and distracted. “…You just keep gauze in your pocket?”  
    Raph tied it off. “Had it in case I needed to change out the bandage on my foot. I’m beginning to think it’s just a regular good idea though.”  
    “…C-Could be.” He couldn’t help but stare.  
    Neither of them could. And Donnie’s gaze had dropped once more down to his mouth.  
    **“Are you guys okay?”** Leo’s voice carried from over the counter.  
    Raph cleared his throat. “Yeah.”  
    “Okay, cool,” Leo said absently, his mind half absorbed in the cartoon Mikey had on.  
    Donnie and Raph got up from the floor and now there was a different sort of look in Donnie’s eyes.  
    “…Help me with the can?” There was somehow a secret in there, just for him. Hidden, modest and coy.  
    “Yeah,” he picked it up and brought it over, peeking over to make sure Leo was distracted as he intimately hung over his shoulder and watched Donnie’s hands at work.  
    He moved with an automatic expertise, but his mind was on _him_ and the plastron nearly pressed to his back, impossibly entangled in the smell, masculine and reptile, lit in his eyes a new coquettish itch.  
    If asked now, he would not lie. He wanted Raphael _alone_.  
    But they weren’t. Mikey’s cartoons hummed loftily in the background. And Leonardo sat dangerously closer, while Raph’s breath fluttered hot over his shoulder, finger discreetly teased the edge of his shell, a brush at his jaw…  
    Donnie paused in motion. He shuddered and whispered small his truth. _“…You smell good.”_  
  _“…Not as good as you.”_  
    Oh, this was dangerous. And it shook him beyond sense. He could feel Raphael’s eyes honed and intense, drawing a low curious temptation that had him drowned—  
    And then something hit the turnstiles. A high distressed voice cut the air, bringing the only true visitor they kept at such an hour, her blue eyes now wide and scared.  
  **“GUYS!!!”**  
    And Donatello’s attention was stripped away in a snap.  
     _“…April.”_


	16. Heat and Jealousy

**CHAPTER 16. Heat and Jealousy  
**  
**“GUYS!!!”**  
_“April!”_  
    She had the floor. Just as quickly as she had entered the room, he was swept away. His hands abandoned their task and in moments he was there by her side—fretting, worrying. Even Leo and Mikey had gotten up couch and rushed over to help. And just in time to hear Donnie unleash his usual onslaught of clingy, over-the-top questions.  
    _“What’s wrong? Are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt? You aren’t hurt are you?!”_  
    Raph bristled from his place and spun back to the can opener, half mocking his brother’s words, throwing his focus on one particular screw in the silver metal body and began a violent operation of screwing and unscrewing it together again—if for nothing else just to keep his hands busy.  
    To keep that boiling temper of his on simmer.   
    But Donatello took no notice. His eyes were on her and the current look of fear that pinched her visage. And although Raph didn’t see his, he didn’t have to.  
     He always looked at her like that. Like her presence was the very ground he stood upon.   
    She pushed the long bangs from her eyes. And Donnie could smell the shampoo in her hair.  
    “I’m alright Donnie,” she assured, “but… someone broke into my bedroom last night… while I was sleeping _in it._ ”  
    “…What?” Worry knitted his expression. “Are you sure?”  
    “I’m positive. My room is completely destroyed! I can’t even tell what they stole… or… even if they took anything at all… And it’s just my room. Everywhere else looks totally fine!”  
    “And you didn’t wake up?” Leo wondered.  
    “That’s the crazy part! …I didn’t hear a thing!”  
    Leo turned to the others. “We have to check it out.”  
     _“Do we really though?”_  
    Leo turned around in surprise at Raph’s seemingly random outburst of rudeness. “Uhhhh… yeah...? We do…?”  
    “She could be in real trouble!”  
    Raph’s glare whipped hotly over to Donnie, who only gave a small shrug of his shoulders, not quite able to meet his eyes. And it just angered him further.  
    “No, Raph’s right. It’s fine, really—I don’t think it’ll be necessary. My dad will be home later tonight.” She explained. “I’ll admit I got spooked being there by myself, but between the Foot, angry mutants and exams—some petty thief is the least of my worries… I just didn’t want to be home alone.”  
    “Well, regardless… I think it’s a good idea for us to check it out,” Leo replied. “If they were looking for something just in _your_ room, I doubt it was random.”  
    “Yeah, we’ll get to the bottom of this,” Donnie offered a kind hand to her shoulder. “And if you need it, you can always stay here with us for the night.”  
     “Thanks guys.” She smiled.  
     Raph growled and slammed the screw driver down into the counter loud enough to make them flinch, but after a few shared glances, they shook off his mood.   
    They had their mission.  
    And Leo gave the motion. _“—Let’s move.”_  
\--  
    The gentle whine of distant sirens poured lazily through the city street tonight, masking their footfall; the five taking familiar shadows en route up to the third story, past iron and brick, to the pale yellow glass that marked her bedroom.  
And April let them in, undoing the latch and climbing over the sill into a disaster. The sheets off the side of her bed were torn to rags. Every desk and dresser drawer she had had been meticulously pulled out and their contents scattered about the floor. The full length mirror on the wall was broken in its place. The floor was completely littered with trash: shreds of pictures, papers, clothes, personal things and pillow feathers. But by far the most disturbing part was that every single surface seemed to be covered in millions of little tiny scratches.  
    Almost like the claws of a cat. Or… perhaps… something else.  
    Donnie blinked deftly. “And you slept… _through_ this?”  
    “Completely.” She motioned to her bed. Her outline stood eerily against the sheets where she had been sleeping untouched.  
    “Dudes, this is too creepy~” Mikey whined.  
    Even Raphael briefly stored away his angry bravado as he looked around the room. April was still their friend after all and this was just disturbing.  
    “Yeahhh, I don’t think this was some random burglar,” Donnie concluded.  
    “But what could have done this?” Leo’s eyes swept hard over the mess. “It doesn’t look like Mutadroid’s slashes…”  
    “But there were similar marks left from the chainbugs in the living room,” Donnie pointed out.  
    Leo thought about it. He did have a point. “But why would they go after April?”  
    “I don’t know,” he admitted, “but… what else fits the profile of doing this much damage in the middle of the night without making any sound?”  
     _“Not makin’ any sound?”_ Raph gaped. “Maybe you weren’t there. Those things never shut up! I still can’t get that noise out of my head!”  
    “That’s what I’m saying. It doesn’t make sense.”  
    “And those people on the news said that they didn’t hear any sound at all,” Leo pointed out.  
    “Just like April,” Donnie muttered.  
    “…Again, this is creepy~” Mikey couldn’t help cowering a bit behind Donnie’s back.  
    “Either we’re dealing with a totally different enemy here,” he reasoned, “or Mutadroid is beyond sophisticated and is messing with us on purpose.”  
    “But… why?” April wondered. “What does it have to gain from tearing up buildings, scaring Mikey in his sleep or… destroying my bedroom?”  
     _That_ , Donnie didn’t have an answer for. “I don’t know,” he told her honestly. “….Are you sure you haven’t noticed anything odd… like, anything missing or out of place?”  
     _“Oh, yeah,”_ Raph butted in snidely. “Wouldn’t want any of your _precious belongings_ to get all messed up now would we~?”  
    Donnie glared over. His was demeaning, borderline baby talk! He wasn’t quite sure what sparked _this_ particular surge of asinine behavior but he was going to try his best to ignore it.   
    Though that was proving difficult. He could feel Raph’s eyes burning a hole through him.  
    April blinked, addressing Donnie. “…Uhhhh… no. Not especially. All my valuables are here. They’re scratched up but, I mean, they work. The only thing that I did find kind of odd… was this.”  
    She gently laid a single photograph in his hand. It was a picture of him and April. She had taken a long time ago back in the lair, the two of them smiling on the couch with his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Donnie remembered it fondly, however; the photo in his hand had been drastically altered.  
    He was no longer in it.  
    “Every picture I have of you looks like that now. It’s like you’ve been totally scratched out of every single one.”  
    Donnie blinked. “—Just… me?”  
    “Yep. Just you.” She brushed the hair out of her bangs again. “It’s a shame really. I kind of liked that picture.” But this time as she pushed her hair away, Donnie noticed something different. “April…. let me see your arm.”  
    “My arm?” She looked at it curiously but obediently obliged it into Donnie’s large hands. He paused in task a moment, suddenly having to steady his head from her scent, but he took her arm regardless, turning it over carefully to examine it.  
    He thought he saw something. Between her shirt sleeve and the brown arm bands she wore.  
    “…What is it?”  
    He moved the sleeves aside and revealed two scratches, mild as paper cuts stood out against her skin. And she gasped.  
    “When did this happen?” he demanded.  
    She shook her head in confusion. “I swear to you, Donnie… I don’t remember getting those.”  
    “Yo, Donnie! Over here!” Leo called. “You might want to check this out.”  
    Leo was crouched on the floor across the room by April’s bedside and moved aside for Donnie to see. In the fold between the box spring and the mattress was what appeared to be crushed, spindly cog of folded metal. It looked as though it could perhaps be part of a crushed chainbug.   
    Donnie extracted it with a pair of tweezers and carefully lifted it towards the light, squinting curiously.  
    “Is it something?” Leo wondered.  
    “….Yeah,” he muttered. “….It’s… definitely something.”  
-  
     _“Mm-hm-Mm hm Mmhm Mmhm~ Mm-hm-Mm hm Mmhm Mmhm~ La La La La Lalalala~ Da-de-duh-de-duh-da~ Dadada!”_ Mikey had his favorite ringtone stuck in his head, singing it in excitement on the way home. His navigation assistance was hardly needed in the Shellraiser this time around and so he sat on the floor, with a box full of food goodies from April’s house set in between his knees. He could hardly contain himself. He was sooooooo hungry right now, but he had promised the others he wouldn’t and they were keeping a sharp eye on him to make sure he kept it.  
    But that didn’t stop him from looking. And the more he looked, the more excited he got. “Man, I love you _so much April!_ ” He hugged the box close to his chest.  
    “Mikey, it’s just food,” she laughed. “It isn’t even that much… especially considering the way _you guys eat._ ”  
    “Dude, are you kidding?! Pizza stuff~? Popcorn, pickles, canned meals… Pancakes…?! Mac and cheese?!” Then he gasped his eyes shimmering with delight. “You even gave us _giant popsicles!!_ ”  
    “That reminds me: be sure to get those in the freezer right away when we get to the lair,” she ordered sternly. “For some reason my aunt bought enough to feed the entire neighborhood….”  
    She paused, watching Mikey gnaw the edge of the box. “Or… at least… to feed a couple mutant turtles,” she corrected with a smirk.  
    “Well it couldn’t have happened at a better time,” Leo said honestly. “We’ve been kind of starving back home.”  
    “…Unless you include the ham,” Donnie interjected.  
    Mikey glared hotly at him. “Don’t you ever say that word _again_.”  
    “…I’m actually really looking forward to trying the apple cider,” Leo admitted shyly from the wheel.  
    “I thought you might,” she smiled. “…Doesn’t really matter to me. As long as I got rid of some of some of that stuff.”  
     _“Yeah, well, I don’t see why we need it,”_ Raph gnarred. His fists tightened around his controls, trying to ignore how close April was sitting to Donnie’s knees… or how happy Donnie seemed of the fact. “…It’s not like we can just eat _popsicles_ and _pancakes_ for the rest of the week.”  
    Now Leo glanced back in the rear view mirror. “Okay, Raph,” he said tiredly. “What’s up your shell?”  
    “ _Nothing_.”  
    “…Yeahhhh, seems like a whole lot of that going on with you lately.”  
    Donnie tried to ignore him, rapping his nervous fingers along the edge of his seat and he caught sight of April again from his peripheral. Of course he understood why Raph was upset but, really, right now, he just wanted to forget all of it and move on.  
    Liking April was normal. It was safe and comfortable, even if it sometimes made his chest hurt with defeat.  
    At least she didn’t squeeze his stomach or turn him inside out. She didn’t make him question his entire life… or make him feel like he was going insane.  
    She was just… _her_ … with those freckles and blue eyes…. and that sweet, girlish smell in her hair that drew lazy circles in his brain….  
    “ _Sooooooo_ , uh… April. How did you think your exams went?”  
    “They went okay. Casey and I were up all night studying,” she smiled wistfully and Donnie noted the modest hint of color in her cheeks.     “…It was a bit rough keeping him on task but we muscled through… and in the end… we had a really nice time.”  
    Raph glanced back. “….I bet that’s not all you did.”  
    Donnie’s eyes widened. Leo threw on the brakes of the Shellraiser at that and whipped back in his seat.  
     **“RAPHAEL!”**  
     _“What?!”_ He demanded. “I’m just sayin’ they were probably all up on each other at some point kissing and stuff.”  
    That didn’t fly. Every one of them knew what he had meant.  
    Now April glared. “Okay, _first of all,_ you have no right to speak to me that way. Second, I fail to see how that would be any of your business in the first place!”  
    “It… _absolutely…. isn’t_ ,” Leo amended venomously. “We are _sooo sorry, April_. Just… ignore him. Raphael _clearly_ forgot his manners elsewhere…. _Raph_ , I don’t know what your problem is but you have absolutely _no right_ to talk to her that way! And unless it is an apology, I don’t want to hear a word from you for the rest of the ride home.”  
    He jumped up from his seat. “FINE! SEE if I care! It’s not like I want to ride with you guys anyways! I’m takin’ the stealth bike!”  
    “Ohhh, no you don’t,” Leo threw the Shellraiser into drive, throwing their momentum hard and making Raph fall back in his seat. “You’re answering to Master Splinter for this one.”  
    “Um… b-besides that,” Donnie interrupted shyly from his seat and his small voice drew everyone’s attention. “I-it appears I didn’t quite… um… pack the bike.”  
    Raph turned on him at that, his fists balled with a new rekindled rage. _“…What?”_  
    Leo glanced back. That served a slight surprise to everyone. After their previous escapades, Donnie pretty much made it a point to _never_ let the Shellraiser be caught dead leaving the garage unloaded or unprepared. Or at the very least, let them know beforehand…  
    But as Donnie now scrambled to check all the stats further now on his computer, it appeared that not only had he not finished loading everything back into place, they seemed rather low on ammunition from the last Mutadroid attack as well.  
    But he _had_ fixed everything. He must have… forgotten to load it perhaps?   
    But how could he have forgotten?  
    “I… uh… _was_ pretty much done with everything… and then… I…. Well, it appears we’re um… not as stocked…”  
    “. . .Soooo don’t find any trouble?” Leo clarified.  
    “That would be wise, yes,” he replied.  
    “How could you just _forget_ to load everything back on?!”  
    Donnie glared at Raph, his patience instantly re-thinned. But Raph reveled in the fight of his eyes.  
    And things got personal quick.  
     _“I’m sorry._ I’ve just had some **_things on my mind lately!!_** ”  
    “Ohh, _is that right?!_ ” he sneered. “Care to share with the rest of the class? Really, _I’m curious!”_  
    “ _Oh_ , trust me Raph, _I’ve noticed_ … You’ve made _that_ fact _perfectly clear._ ”  
     **“GUYS!”** Leo interrupted. “What are you two even fighting about?”  
    Donnie whipped back. “ _Yeah, Raph_. What are we fighting about here?”  
    Bottled words stormed between them, whipping violence in Raph’s chest, but they both had an audience and the words clenched hard his teeth. _“…Nothin’._ ” He threw himself back down in his seat, arms folded tight to his chest.  
    Leo looked between the two and then even to Mikey, who was clearly just as baffled by it all as he was. But after a moment of silence, Leo firmly adjusted in his seat and they continued a quiet drive home.  
-  
    There was a hard scrutiny in his eyes as he turned her arm over in light. The moment they had returned to the lair, Donnie had taken April into his lab, holding every clue they had found under a meticulous study of microscopes and bright bay lights.  
    “…Well, there’s nothing in your skin,” he confirmed, rolling back, “but I confess I _do_ feel a bit better now knowing they’re clean.”  
    “Me too,” she smiled. “Thank you, Donnie.”  
    Donnie returned her smile warmly, but it was one short lived, as there was a quiet storm brewing just outside the room, in the dojo… though he tried to drown him out.  
    Raph growled unhappily, his feet padding careful circles around Leo, sai clenched tight to train, but his mind wandering out of drive, knowing just beyond the shoji… he was alone with her… doing who knows what.   
    And _he_ was stuck _here_. With _Leo_.  
    He spun his sai in his hands. She should have never shown up. The way Donnie was acting was _disgusting_. It sat like nettles in his skin. And so far the only thing Leo had successfully done was find new ways to piss him off further.  
    Which, admittedly, was like a super power of his at this point.  
    “Seriously, Raph. Get your head in the game,” Leo launched into a frustrated attack, his swords swiping close and locking with his sai. “What’s your deal today?”  
    Raph shoved him back and treaded carefully, not answering.  
    “Okay, can you _at least_ tell me why you and Don are fighting? And _what_ has been your malfunction since April’s shown up? …You’ve been acting crazy!”  
    Another growl ripped from his throat. “Just… **_back off Leo_** , okay?! I’m really not in the mood!”  
    As if to mock him, the twittering sound of Donnie and April chuckling and giggling assaulted his ears, igniting a new twinge of rage.  
.  
    “Well, it sounds like your guys’ hard work should pay off,” Donnie replied, a bit amused at Casey’s expense, listening to April’s stories of trying to keep him on his exams. “And on the bright side, at least you didn’t end up with pie all over your walls.”  
    “I know, right? My dad would have killed me.”  
    Donnie chuckled and again he heard the low sounds of Raph’s sparring, letting it roll through his brain and he lifted his eyes, intent to banish him again from thought.  
    His fingers twitched a little in place.   
    April smelled nice today. _Really_ nice.   
    He wondered if he should tell her.   
    No, that would be weird.  
     _“….Donnie? HEY!”_  
    “Hm? Huh, what?” He blinked. “Oh, sorry, April… What’s up?”  
    “Are you okay? You were _really_ zoned out there… And you had this weird look in your eye.”  
    “I’m fine.”  
    He heard another growl; the clink of his sai. It buzzed oddly in his skin but he didn’t know why, just acute enough to ignore…  
    “I was wondering if there was something else you needed help with,” she repeated.  
    “Oh… um… well…”  
    Her hair. A tiny violence suddenly itched at him to throw all of the things off his table, growl at her freckles, tangle his fingers in her locks, chase down that scraping metal sound of sai over footfall and pin Raphael to the floor.  
    All of those things at once. And then it passed and he couldn’t remember what he wanted to tell her. His head felt sort of foggy, so much so he had to blink. “…P-Perhaps… I’m um… not feeling so well…”   
    “Are you okay? If you need anything…”   
    Her voice petered out. He could hear the dips and lolls but it seemed to become clouds in his brain, rolling to nonsense.  
    And then he hissed something strange. _“Nng…ah...… Body…”_  
    “What?” April blinked.  
    Donnie’s eyes snapped to hers, finding instant clarity. “Huh?”  
    “You said ‘ _body_ …’”  
    He blinked. “Uhhhhhhhh…. Right. I… uh…” he cleared his throat, his mind now scrambling for a quick recovery. “Bodyyyy… check… OH! That’s what I forgot to ask! Did you check the rest of your body for scratches?”  
    “Oh,” April nodded. “Yeah I did. I didn’t see anything weird…”  
    “ _Phew_ ,” Donnie sighed with relief.  
    “Um… but…”  
    He raised his eyes in question.  
    “Well, there is sort of… _one_ thing… or not,” She thought about it and sat a little straighter. “…Never mind, it’s embarrassing—I don’t think it’s anything anyways… Nothing for you to worry about,” she amended.  
    Donnie grew concerned. “No, what is it?”  
    Again she hesitated.  
    “Seriously, anything you can give me would be a huge help.”  
    She thought it over and then blushed slightly. “…Alright, but you better behave,” she warned.  
    Donnie gaped and stammered; a bit slighted at the demand. They were talking about medical science here! What did she take him for, some kind of pervert?!   
     ….Okay, perhaps he didn’t have the _best_ track record…  
    Her eyes were firm. “I need _Doctor Donnie_ on board for this, got it?”  
    “…A-Affirmative.”  
    “. . .Alright. There’s this… place on my back,” she grabbed the hem of her shirt. “I can’t reach it or see it, but it’s been bugging me since this morning…”  
.  
    “GRAHHHH!” He pushed him back and roared. **“…PAUSE THIS!”**  
    “What?! Why? What is it?” Leo froze to listen at his demeanor, eyes wide and chest still heaving from the fight.  
    Raph looked around. He couldn’t help but feel a disturbance in the air. “...I think my pervert senses are tingling.”  
    “What?” His voice was so quiet Leo hadn’t quite heard him, but whatever it was; he was getting really sick of this weird, distracted behavior of his. “Raph, stop being stupid!”  
    “I’M NOT BEIN’ STUPID!” He snapped. “ _You’re_ the one being stupid!! What’s even _with_ you?!”  
    “ME?! What’s with _you?!_ You’re the one acting like a deranged psycho here!”  
    Ugh! He was so irritating! “…What’s _with me_ is that this training is completely stupid and unnecessary!!”  
    Leo studied him evenly. “Given that its purpose was to keep you away from Donnie and April, I’d say it’s _very_ necessary.”  
    Raph ground his teeth, fitfully throwing one of his sai to the floor. “I QUIT!!”  
    Leo scoffed. “You can’t just quit!”  
    “WATCH ME!” He stormed out.  
.  
    She started to lift her shirt and he stopped her. “Are you sure? I-I understand now why you might not be comfortable with me… I can ask Leo to do it instead, if you like.”  
    “Are you kidding? You’re the doctor here. And I _do_ trust you Donnie,” she assured with a smile.  
    “—Very well.”  
    April began to lift her shirt slightly up to the middle of her back, though so far he didn’t observe anything along her skin.  
    “Where is it at?”  
    “Higher,” she replied awkwardly. “Like… _higher_.”  
    Understanding slowly found its way to his eyes. “Is it by your bra strap?”  
    She blushed a bit at his blunt, to-the-point phrasing. “Uh… yeah, around there.” she shifted. “…Is that alright?”  
    “Only if it is with you.”  
    She nodded her head and Donnie pushed her shirt a little higher until he found the black translucent band. He paused; his toes curled slightly in place, but he was honest, looking around for any clues or scratches, finally hooking a finger beneath the strap to check underneath, brushing a point on her skin. “Oh, it’s nothing serious. The hook’s just bad. It’s digging into your skin.”  
    “Really? That’s all?”  
    “I might be able to fix it later, but for now I can makeshift this part to be a little more…”  
    _ **BOOM!**_  
    Raph burst into the room, slamming the door open so hard they almost fell out of their seats. And they shrieked.  
    He processed the scene. April’s shirt hiked. Donnie’s fingers in the latch of her bra.  
    And Raph almost saw red. “I DON’T BELIEVE THIS!! _**YOU SKEEZY CREEP!!**_ ”  
    April pulled her shirt back down, covering herself in modesty. “RAPH! There is this thing called knocking!”   
    But he hardly cared. His gaze was venomously locked on Donnie.  
    “Raph, please,” he started. “I-It isn’t what it looks like! She asked for my help…!”   
    “ _YEAH?!_ Did she also ask for me to _STICK MY SAI UP YOUR_ …?!”  
    “RAPH!” Leo ran in to mediate the scene, Mikey following after. “What is going on here?!”  
    “I’ll tell you what’s goin’ on!! I leave the room for five minutes… AND _HE_ HAS HIS HAND HALFWAY UP HER SHIRT!!!”  
     _“WHAT?!_ ” Leo whipped towards him.  
    “O-Out of context!” Donnie defended. “ _April_ asked for _my_ medical confidence! And Raph burst in unannounced and out of control!”  
    “It’s true,” April replied firmly. “Donnie did nothing wrong.”  
    Leo glared at Raph, but he was glaring past him. He didn’t understand the turbulent look in his eyes, but for a moment, he almost looked wounded.  
    That first time they almost kissed burned hurt behind his eyes.  
    Donnie swallowed. He didn’t know why that look cut him so deeply or why he even felt the need to defend himself as much as he did, but it yanked at his conscience, so much so he could barely stop himself from going after him as Leo dragged him out the door.  
    Outside Leo pushed him to the wall and searched him menacingly. “Raph, I’m going to ask you this once and you better be honest: do you have some sort of feelings for April we don’t know about?”  
    Raph shoved him back. “No. _I don’t_. Now get the heck out of my face before _you_ find a sai where the sun don’t shine.” He shoulder-checked him on the way out.  
    Donnie watched from the door, unable to help himself. “Raph…”  
    He plodded away rigidly, determined not to hear.   
    And it hurt. Surely he understood….   
    He shut his eyes. _No…._  
    He grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. “Raph… Look…” But the words force-stopped in his throat. He wanted to speak but all eyes in the lair were currently on them. Leo… Mikey… April… even Master Splinter could be somewhere in ear shot.  
    Raph followed the shift in his eyes down to his thought and shrugged out of his touch, sitting on the couch with his arms crossed tight, shooting a glare at the unwelcome stares.  
    They all jolted and began an awkward chorus of whistling or humming and looked away, trying to look busy, not wanting to get on Raph’s bad side any more than they already had.  
    But Donnie still stood there complacently, wondering what he ought to do. He didn’t want to leave. He felt more than guilty! It was like he was holding his breath and then he just wanted to yell _everything_ that had been going on inside his head that week. Every thought. Every dream. Every time he had held his breath and stayed awake. The tight in his shell. The confusing twist in his stomach. That crackling fear. The simple ache he had for love or a physical touch, when even among his brothers, he was a freak; a tall mind just further doomed to stand alone.  
    He was a man of books! Of psychology! He _knew_ how to define attraction…. Until he thought about Raph… until he was caught staring into his eyes.  
    How _fiercely_ he hated him for planting this seed in his head when they were brothers!  
    They had lived together their whole lives! He had treated him halfway terribly through a lot of it. And… and _now_ he wanted him?! What, physically? Romantically? _Sexually?_  
    What if they _did_ kiss?! Then what?! What would happen to them? They were brothers! Leo, Mikey, Sensei they—  
    Why did it feel like he was tearing apart at the seams?! Everything was normal before he changed it!  
    This entire whirlwind burned a hole through him as he stood that spot in the room. Raphael didn’t know and he ignored him, picking up the remote to the TV and cranking the volume just loud enough to drown his ill-begotten jealousy.  
    And as he did, April wisped by, pulling Donnie from his trance in her simplicity. She paused at the couch and tentatively took a seat beside the angry Raph, shooting Donnie a nervous sort of shooing motion.  
    Donnie hesitated. He wasn’t sure her presence in this situation was a good idea at all.  
    But April just relaxed her posture beside him, propping her feet up alongside.  
    Raph’s eyes scanned over and moved back to the TV. April shot Donnie another look and so he obliged a few steps out of range.  
    A few moments in TV silence swelled on through, though Raphael remained visibly unamused.  
    “…Thanks for sticking up for me.”  
    His eyes snapped over.  
    She looked down and pushed the hair softly from her eyes. “Even if you _did_ totally jump the gun back there, I just wanted you to know… I really did appreciate it.” She threw her arms around his middle and Raph’s eyes widened, going rigid in surprise.  
    Still she smiled, planting a small, thankful kiss to his cheek. And while he was still rather bristled by the matter, there was something out of the corner of his eye made him pause.  
    Donnie’s reaction. His hands balled to fists, eyes leaping fire between them, knitting shock, horror, conflict, disgust…  
    And something undeniably jealous.  
    Raph turned that over in his head. And his tune instantly changed.  
    _“Oh, it’s alright, April~”_ He wrapped his arm intimately around her waist and pulled her close, tracing a finger seductively along the edge of her face. “…What can I say? … _I’m lookin’ out for ya.”_  
    Donnie’s jaw dropped.  
    April blinked and looked away, a bit surprised and slightly off-put by his behavior. “R-Raph…”  
    He released her waist with ease and now played the charm low. “Well, I’m just glad you’ve _forgiven me_! Care to, uh, watch the rest of this movie with me?”  
    “Sure!” She smiled in relief and turned back towards the TV.   
     Raph made sure to meet Donnie’s eyes from beyond the couch as he snaked his arm casually around her shoulders. And after a few moments, she leaned in to comfortably rest her head in the crook of his arm.  
    Donnie’s eye twitched. Raph didn’t even look back, walking his fingers suggestively along the back of the couch.   
    And that was all Donnie could take. **“A-APRIL!”** He stormed loudly over to the couch. _“Mind if I sit!?”_  
    “Um…?”  
    _“Heh.”_ He tore her out from beneath his arm so she sat normally between them as he sat down. _“Thank you.”_  
    Raph glanced over and Donnie’s look was stern, as though the silent warning were to somehow put him in place.   
    And Raph responded in kind. He casually turned back at the TV and then he jumped in his seat, feigning excitement to grab her knee. “Oh, APRIL! Ya gotta watch this! It’s my favorite part!”  
    His touch stayed too long.  
    Donnie quietly seethed, halfway considering ripping his hand off. And then another, calmer idea struck him to knock him off his high horse. He leaned back, checking around the room around for witnesses. Leo had tentatively gone back to the dojo and Mikey and Sensei were both nowhere to be found.  
    He reached over the back of the couch, past April, to the tail ends of his mask and began an action of running them through his fingers just hard enough for him to notice.  
    Raph _froze_.  
    Donnie glared over haughtily, enjoying the power; the tattered fabric locked around his hand.   
    And their stares held just a moment too long, hiding their secrets and that chemistry neither of them understood—until the small washing sounds of the TV reminded him of April between them and he unwound his hand, resetting his former warning glare.  
     Raph narrowed his eyes and moved his arm again towards April’s waist.  
    Donnie snatched his mask back and yanked hard.  
     _“HYAGH!”_ he yelped and his head crashed into the seat.   
    April glanced over and Donnie quick feigned an innocence. “April could you get us some popcorn? There’s some on the kitchen counter. Do you mind?”  
    “Ah. Sure thing.” She got up.  
  _“Are we really doin’ this right now?”_ Raph hissed over.  
    “…I don’t see it!” she called from the kitchen.  
     Donnie glared viciously. _“Here~”_ He answered. _“Let me help you~”_  
    Raph stewed madly in place and watched him go, wracking his brain. He would not be outdone. He refused.  
    He had _one_ trump card up his sleeve. And he planned on using it.


	17. Dirty Mind Games

**Chapter 17: Dirty Mind Games**  
  
    Their popcorn was ready in no time at all April and Donnie were making their way back with a large bowl in hand.  
    “Here we are!” April smiled. “One _giant_ bowl of……… popcorn.” She paused and looked around, puzzled by the now empty couch. “…Where’s Raph?”  
    “….Good question. Who cares,” he dismissed coldly and he readily took his place on the couch without so much as a second thought.  
    April hesitated, looking down into the bowl. “…I feel kinda bad eating without him.”  
    “If he misses it, that’s his own problem. It’s best to let him alone when he gets like this.”  
    She thought that over. “…I suppose.” She sat down beside him. “…I just hope he feels better...”  
     _“I’m back!”_ Raph’s voice suddenly interrupted their conversation from the hall.  
    Donnie looked up irritably to regard him… and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head.  
    “ _Uhh_ , welcome back,” April smiled awkwardly.   
    Raphael pushed slowly off the door frame, half smile and crooked swagger and Donatello let out an unintelligible sound.  
    They stood proud on his skin, his nose, his face; swollen droplets stretching and meeting to streams that rushed down his broad chest. Raphael pushed the towel slowly along his jaw, down his neck, to his biceps and it only made the light gleam on him more. Donnie’s eyes flickered as the rivers met and trailed to his knees until they fell to puddles that trailed behind on the floor.  
    …What was he doing? Was this necessary? WHY WAS HE WET?!  
    Donnie blinked and cleared his throat, his face involuntarily growing warm, embarrassed by his own staring. He wasn’t sure what Raph’s angle was for doing this, but he had half a mind to shield April’s eyes from this indecency.  
    Or… wait… was this decent?  
    “Diiiiiid you just take a shower or something?” April wondered, confused.  
    “Yeah… _somethin_ ’ like that,” Raph’s eyes burned such a vibrant green, pushing the towel again slow over his arms. “I think I just needed to cool my head. I’ve been so tense lately…. I think we all have~” he sat down, “huh, Don?”  
    Donnie didn’t reply, glaring evenly, trying to hide just how oddly flustered he felt.  
    Raph reached across his body and grabbed a small handful of popcorn and tossed it into his mouth, tall and haughty that he had won.  
    The smell of the water and his skin churned his mind. It curled at his toes, knocked his knees and made his insides tight.  
    Raph smirked at his reaction, flicking a popcorn kernel victoriously off his face.  
    Donnie’s eyes changed to a glare and suddenly a growl ripped from his throat. He jumped to his feet and stormed off towards the kitchen.  
    “ _Uhhhh_ , we need butter!” Raph shoved the bowl distractedly into April’s stomach and immediately got up to follow, leaving her to glance back, wondering what in the world was going on.  
    In the kitchen Donnie blinked rapidly, trying to catch his breath. Something was wrong. Weird wrong. He didn’t feel right. And then that smell found him again and he shut his eyes, trying to ignore its presence.  
    ….What was wrong with him?  
     _“What’ssamatter Donnie? Gettin’ tense?”_  
    Donnie lifted his eyes coolly and opened the freezer, greeted by a chilly _‘Meow’_ of Ice Cream Kitty, who kindly obliged two giant sized popsicles into his hand and he slammed it shut, stalking his way once more to the couch.  
    If Raph wanted to play mind games, oh, he’d _give him_ mind games! He had _no idea_ who he was messing with!  
    “Here you go April~” Donnie offered her one. “I suddenly got in the mood for a popsicle, you want one?”  
    “Uhhh, _sure_ ,” April took one tentatively. “…I guess.” She wasn’t so sure she should really be around in the middle of their strange feud. The whole atmosphere was just weird, but still she undid the wrapper, finding a bright lime and attempted to make normal conversation. “What one did you get? Mine’s green.”  
    “….Mine’s _**red**_ ,” he uttered darkly.  
    She wondered how he knew that when he hadn’t even opened it yet, but his focus seemed lost on the screen and so she settled and began to watch as well.   
    His eyes only flickered once when Raphael returned, sitting a distance away, his body language particularly loud. But Donatello did not regard him further, letting the TV completely usurp his attention.  
    Raph bristled a little at being ignored and he leaned over to reach the popcorn again, though this time Donnie remained firmly un-phased, even when his face was but inches away.  
    “Uh, Raph, you’re kind of blocking the screen,” April informed, craning her neck to see around him.  
    Raphael’s eyes narrowed, but unable to entice a single reaction, reluctantly sat back.   
    Donnie then scooted just a little closer to April, as far as he could allow without disturbing her space. And Raph fumed further.  
    It was then that April felt a weird sticky wetness dripping on her hand and she leapt back a bit. “Ah! Donnie! Your popsicle…!”  
    Donnie looked down, watching the red sugar dribble lazily past his wrists. “Oh, _drat_! …I must have forgotten I had it!”  
    He undid the wrapper, turned over his arm and began a slow, suggestive draw up his wrist, catching the sweetness on his tongue. And he acted like he savored it, catching his brother’s eyes, making sure he watched….  
    Raph didn’t even blink. It took him a moment to realize he was staring much too hard and he turned away, coughing awkwardly, his face red and his mind going a thousand miles an hour.  
    He couldn’t _believe_ Donnie would outdo him like that! That was blatantly provocative! This was… teasing! Deliberate, sexual...  
    This was messed up! His heart was still tripping in his shell. He didn’t dare look!  
    Or at least he tried, but his eyes couldn’t help betraying a small peek.  
    And Donnie behaved as though it never happened, watching the TV in phased innocence, loftily enjoying his treat.   
    Raph gaped and then his eyes narrowed. _That little…!_  
    His temper stirred fitfully and in the washed TV glow that popsicle suddenly pointedly paused, like the breath before a phrase.   
    Raph turned away and puffed out his chest, determined now more than ever not to care.   
    But that cherry red mocked his peripheral. And the pause ended.   
     He watched it move and enclose in his lips, how the cold, sweet fluid melted and mingled on his tongue, pushing slowly to the back of his throat. Just a little bit more. A little farther… a little bit deeper. Even when Raph thought it would stop, it just kept disappearing with such a simple ease of grace until the red was completely engulfed in his mouth.  
    And then just like that, he eased the stick free. Completely clean. And swallowed.  
    Raphael gaped, numb, slack jawed at the display and Donnie looked over. It seemed fairly obvious that his brother’s brain had short circuited and fried. And that he had won.  
     Donatello tilted his head and flicked the stick so it ricocheted hard off his face.  
    _Game. Set. Match._  
    That broke his spell. Raph blinked and glared, his temperature instantly flushing to something feverish.  
    But Donatello’s mental victory was short lived, for while Raph’s complexion was quickly rivaling his mask, Donnie himself was turning a shade of blue.  
    Eating that popsicle that fast had had consequences. Suddenly he shot up rigid in his seat, his eyes bulged.   
    “U-U-U-U- _YAGHHHHHHH!!!!”_ He yelped, grabbing the searing cold pain in his skull. **“B-B-B-BRAIN FREEZE!! I’VE GOT BRAIN FREEZE!!”**  
    “Donnie!” April’s eyes widened. “What did you do?!”  
    He chattered, full-body shivered and writhed. And Raph snickered a little at his expense.  
    Served him right.  
    Donnie glared, his knees knocking. “Um… I th-th-thth-think I ate my p-p-p-p-popsicle too fast.”  
    “You already finished it?!” April asked in surprise, looking at hers in amazement. “Donnie! These are jumbo sized! You have to take it easy!”  
    Raph laughed even louder. And Donnie looked away indignant and embarrassed, his breath coming out in chilly puffs.   
    Alright, swallowing a popsicle whole probably wasn’t exactly his crowning achievement of bright ideas.  
    Even it _was_ to spite Raph….. Who would _not stop laughing!_  
    His patience snapped. “I W-W-W-WILL TEAR YOU OUT OF YOUR SHELL!”  
    “I… I’d like to see you try!” Raph guffawed. “What are ya gonna do? Turn tricks _there_ too?!”  
    “Turn tricks?” April wondered confused but the thought fell away as she looked up and saw her father come into the room. “DAD!” She jumped up readily and ran to meet him, leaping warmly into his arms.  
    “Hey kiddo!” He squeezed her tight.  
     Donnie got up to greet him as well, though not before hitting Raph hard upside his head and shoving him violently into the couch. “Hi Mr. O’Neil!” he smiled feign-warmly and went over to greet him.  
    “Donatello. Thank you letting April stay here while I was away.”  
    “N-N-No problem. Really. We’re glad to see you guys are safe,” he said, still shivering slightly from the cold.  
    And Raph glared over the side of the couch, rubbing the lingering smart in his arm.  
    Mr. O’Neil studied him curiously. “Are you cold?”  
    “It’s nothing,” he insisted and Mr. O’Neil’s thoughts turned instantly to the situation of their own home.  
    “…I was wondering: you’ve been there right? …Have you found anything yet? Any clues?”  
    “N-N-Not yet,” he replied, still trying to warm himself a little, “but I can assure you… I’ll do whatever I can to make sure you guys are safe.”  
    “Thank you,” he smiled. “April and I will be staying at another relative’s for the next few nights… at least until we feel a little better about the situation.”  
    “I’ll keep you updated,” he assured.  
    “See ya,” April waved.  
    Donnie waved in return and lingered back to make sure they were completely gone and out of ear shot before he suddenly let out a kiai, lunging over the couch and on top of Raph, sending them both tumbling to the floor.  
    “Hwahh!” Raph yelped, struggling under his anger-driven strength.  
    “TURN TRICKS?!?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”  
    “ME?!” Raph glared, kicked him hard and rolled out. He lowered his voice. “ _You_ were the one who started showin’ that popsicle a good time! I just figured ya wanted to _showcase_ your talent a little. Ya seem good at it. We oughta put you outside in the alley.”  
    Donnie blushed and dove again, determined to smother him into the floor. “And you coming in half naked and soaking wet was somehow ANY MORE CLASSY?!”  
    Raph dodged, grappling for a headlock, but Donnie violently wrenched out and strikes were thrown.  
    “Hey, got your attention didn’t it?” Raph locked his attack hard and lowered his voice to his face. “You were pretty much foamin’ at the mouth.”  
    “Nnghh… You’re delusional.”  
    “And you’re hot for me.”  
    Donnie blushed without a ready witty response, shoved him back and readily rekindled fight, turning the living room into a violent mess of punching, ducking, kicking and grappling. Raph’s strength was fierce, but Donnie was quicker on his feet this time around, shoving him off his balance and he hissed in his face: “…While I’m sure your incest fantasies are inspired in _some_ universe, I’m afraid I’m going to have to take a rain check.”  
    Raph pushed back and their brawl continued, jumping and tripping over the couch. They let their fists do the talking.  
    Donnie was a liar! It was even in the way he fought. Their kicks got serious, desperate, made to bruise… Everything was wrong. It was all sloppy and angry and confused… blurring who was fighting who…  
    Leo heard the muffled sounds of fighting and came into the room, as the exchange grew tired, but still they tried to fight and he leapt between them to rip them apart.  
     **“Guys! KNOCK IT OFF!”** He stared between them exasperated. **“Will you quit fighting for two seconds?!?”**  
    Donnie shoved violently out. “…I have things to do,” he spat and turned on his heel. “I’ve got to reload the Shellraiser.”  
    “GREAT!” He plodded off. “I’ll be wherever he isn’t!”  
    Leo grabbed Raph firmly by his shell. “ _Uh_ , **no.** ” He spun him around and pushed him back towards Donnie. “You two will _both_ be working on the Shellraiser _together_.”  
     _ **“WHAT?!”**_  
    “NO WAY!”  
     _“You can’t!”_ Donnie looked appalled. “We literately just tried to kill each other!!”  
    “Which is _precisely_ why you two need to resolve this.”  
    Donnie stepped forward, trying to appeal to his sense of reason. “Leo, with all due respect, don’t you think a better solution would then be for us to get _away_ from each other?”  
    “I tried that. It didn’t work,” he folded his arms angrily. “So now we’re doing it _my_ way.”  
    “I’m not working with him!”  
    “Like I’d want to!”  
    “ENOUGH!” Leo barked. “Either you two work it out loading the Shellraiser _or_ you can spend the next _three hours_ with me and Sensei working your teamwork, tekki stances and grappling!”  
    Raph and Donnie quietly looked at one another.  
-  
    The Shellraiser door rattled open and Leo roughly pushed them inside, glaring after them. “You’re brothers. Start acting like it.” And with that, he slammed it shut.  
    “…” They both stared at the door just a moment longer, listening to his footfall leave the garage. But his words hadn’t.  
    “…Shall we go?”  
    Raph followed him in silence, wordlessly watching as Donnie found his tool box and began rifling through for his needed tools and welding equipment. “I already compressed plenty of garbage to load into the cannon. They should be on the rack right outside the door on the fourth shelf.”  
    “…Aren’t we gonna talk about this?”  
    “Not until the urge to stab you with this screwdriver passes, we’re not. Now go grab the balls.”  
    Raph stared in mute silence and Donnie gave him a stern look. _“Now, please?”_  
    “…Fine.”  
    Raph jumped out of the Shellraiser to the metal rack outside, holding a wide range of other garage tools that Donnie kept. He found the rack with ease, only struggling slightly with the weight.  
    “I’ll need it in the back!” he called.  
    “Where else would I bring it?!”  
    “…I’ll need one load inside… two would be optimal.” Donnie’s eyes scanned in thought, looking over what he needed done and opened the ceiling hatch to let in a little extra needed light. And after making a few more mental notes and harnessing his tool belt, he went to go find his soldering iron. “By the way the inner workings of the platform are still slightly damaged, so I recommend you uh… be careful with the shaft.” He set focused to his work. “I’ll fix it in a minute.”  
    Raph heaved the rack with brute strength and hauled up onto the roof, carefully grounding himself as Donnie returned to the inside of the bus.  
    “Turn it on!” Raph called.  
    Donnie paused, swearing he’d heard something else. “W-What?”  
    “The… _thing_ … turn it on.”  
    “…OH RIGHT!” He quickly located the remote and pushed the button. The garbage cannon unfolded from the hood and he quietly watched Raph from beneath the hatch as he lifted the first ball of garbage up to the barrel eclipsing the room’s florescent light.  
    “Ya know, I could use some help up here. Plus, if you’re gonna sodder those ends, you might wanna do it now before I jam this thing in.”  
    Donnie scoffed. “I thought I told you to be easy with it!” He leapt up, trying to balance his weight between Mikey’s seat and his own to shimmy up through.  
    “Yeah well, bein’ _gentle_ and _easy_ ain’t exactly my specialty.”  
    Donnie wanted to crack that he had other work he could be doing but as he was nearly onto the roof… he lost his footing, leg scraping metal and he began fall back down into the hatch. “WOAH!”  
    Raph dove, dropping the garbage carelessly to the roof, grabbing his arm, just barely as he hit. “I’VE GOTCHYA.”  
    But it wasn’t enough. He only delayed the fall before gravity caught up and cruelly dragged them both down, crashing into the corner of Donnie’s work station, with all of Donnie’s tools scattering from his belt and across the floor.  
    “Ulghh… ack!” Donnie gasped, crushed beneath Raphael’s weight, knocking the wind right out of him.  
    Raph shook the hollow pain in his head and pushed himself up. “You a’right?”  
    “Nng.” His head hurt too. “I think so… I…”  
    He started to sit up but they both stopped, realizing their noses were inches apart.  
    Donnie blushed and lowered his eyes. “…Uh.”  
    Raph cleared his throat and stood up quickly, helping Donnie to his feet. But among the scattered tools, a screwdriver stopped his step and Donnie slipped, falling hard into his work station… and unfortunately again, taking Raphael with him.  
    “UGH!” Donnie cursed in frustration. “WHY DO I KEEP--?!” His voice caught in his throat. Raphael’s fall had been less graceful, this time catching in the crook of his shoulder and half in between his legs.  
    “UH…!”  
    “Sorry…”  
    “I…” Donnie lost his voice. “Um…” He tried to back out but they moved together. Raphael’s breath was warm on his collar, his scent consuming his space.  
    He shuddered deeply despite himself. That strange feeling was coming over him again. He was so close. And when he tried to move, he felt their plastrons glide and his breath hitched, his thoughts melding somewhere between pushing him away and that friction. He moved to push him away there was no weight to his touch.  
    Raph paused. _Mixed signals_ crossed his mind as he felt his fingers idly trace along the edge of his scar and Raph’s thoughts began to muddle.  
    All he could feel was his small, steady breathing. Nervous… tall, like royalty. And it was so warm. He was finally alone with him… with his knees at his shell…  
    He wanted to close that distance so much. “…Don…?”  
    He blinked up oddly up at his voice and it caught his nerves. “I-I…” His elbows shook and buckled, clumsily pushing farther into his work station and grinding their shells once more.  
    Raphael blinked; trying to will some blood to his head, but it wasn’t working. Those normally grounded ocher eyes were oddly hazed, fixed in his collar bone and how it looked in the dim light.   
    He smelled… Safe… Strong…  
    He leaned in close so their noses brushed. Donnie peeked up at the presence. But something in his conscience still forbade the kiss. It was just too real, too permanent.   
    And yet, he still wanted to drown in it.   
    Perhaps part of him already was. His breath washed over his throat, bringing an excited shiver to his knees, pushing off his keyboard and switches like they didn’t exist and it only urged Raph closer.  
    Something gnawed at Raphael’s senses in a way he had _never_ felt. There were no words for it… except it was all alluring and just undeniably Donatello… sparking things only the darkest corners of his subconscious had conjured.  
    Oh, he wasn’t thinking straight. Neither of them were thinking straight. His breath blew hotter, enticing just the smallest of sounds.   
    Like the ghost of a moan. And that temptation grew loud.   
    He wanted to breathe him in. Sickeningly, greedily, he wanted to hear it again. Raph shook in his nerves and finally dared his lips to his skin. And he was rewarded with that cute sound of his.   
    Just once more. Just a little bit more. He couldn’t take it. He pressed kisses again to his neck, brushed along his jaw…. nipped his throat, accelerated and feverish.  
     _“Uh-haa…”_ Donnie backpedaled weakly to the wall, clutching him close despite himself, pressing and tangling to him, his shell mashing and flipping switches, but he loved it all. _“...Raph…”_  
    It coated his brain, so encompassing. And then his lips were just a world away. It seemed like everything suspended, waiting for that distance to end… He leaned into his breath…   
    And his shell flipped the wrong switch.  
     **KAAAAAAA~KAAAAAA~KAAAAAA~KAAAAAA  
    CHEEPCHEEPCHEEPCHEEPCHEEPCHEEPCHEEPCHEEPCHEEP**  
    The entire security system went berserk, blaring alarms assaulting their ears and scaring them senseless. And the two of them shrieked, shoving off each other as though they were boiling.  
    Everything was going off. Cameras moved out of control. The windshield wipers viciously whipped back and forth. Lights blinked again and again… Three smoke bombs went off from beneath the suspension. The garbage cannon they had been working on began to spin.  
    And Raph and Donnie’s faces were stark red. Donnie quick dove back into his seat, trying to fix everything, his hands fast and panicked.  
    “DUDES WHAT’S GOING ON???!” Mikey’s voice yelped against the noise from the outside.  
    “NOTHING! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IS GOING ON!” Donnie shrieked, hands fumbling with the right switches but finally he cut the alarms.  
    But his heart was still hammering, breath shaking.   
    What just happened?! WHAT HAD THEY JUST DONE?! Did they just make out?!! No. No, no, no, no. That would imply they had been _kissing_. They hadn’t. They hadn’t… _quite_ kissed…  
    'Necking' was… probably more appropriate.  
    They stared at each other in horror.  
    _ **“…Are you guys okay?!”**_ Mikey called.  
    “YES!”         “FINE!”         “Very fine! We don’t need you!”  
    Donnie froze. “W-We…”  
    “Uh…”  
    “T-The… the shaft!” he blathered.  
    “Yeah!” Raph agreed.  
    “We need to… work…!”   
    “Get it workin’!”  
    “Yes… The shaft!”  
    “Yeah!”  
    “N-Not…!”  
    “Right!” Raph finished. And they quickly went separate ways.  
    The Shellraiser’s repairs had never been quicker. They barely even looked or regarded one another. There was a new spike of sin that existed here now somehow, like chemicals in a raw, volatile cocktail, dangerous as it was contagious. It viciously stirred around and tightened in their guts.   
    Who knew what it was made of now. But they were sure two seconds and a light of match could burn their whole world down. And with wrenches turned and wires repaired, even with clumsy hands and far away thoughts, the Shellraiser returned to her proper fortress of weapons just as Mikey came bursting back into the garage, this time in full sprint.  
    And there was panic in his eyes.  
     _ **“DONNIE!”**_ He leapt up and seized Donnie’s arms. _**“We need you NOW BRO!”**_  
    “WOAH!! What?!” Donnie tripped, nearly falling as he dragged him out of the room. “Wait a minute! What’s going on?!”  
    “It’s Master Splinter!! ...He's not breathing!!"


	18. The Race

**Chapter 18: The Race  
**  
    Leo’s fingers ran trembling circles through his father’s fur, his weight heavy in his lap, caught beneath the filtered light of the looming grate and the crooked branches of the tree that he so loved.   
    He tried to remain calm. Be cool, strong, calculated... everything he had ever taught him to be. He needed to be all those things in order to help, but nothing was working. And he was so scared.   
     **“What’s going on?!”** Donnie burst into the room with those words hot on his heels, falling to his knees at his side with Mikey and Raph in tow.   
    “He just collapsed! I... I think he has a fever!!”  
    “Give me some space.” Donnie took out his stethoscope, pushing the surface along his chest, listening for something, anything.... a breath, a pulse.... holding his own until he heard....   
    …......He was breathing. He was _still breathing_. Barely, but… oh, thank Tesla!   
    “I tried to do the healing hands a number of times," Leo rushed. "It helped for a few minutes but then it’s like… his fever got worse!”   
    Donnie’s eyes widened, listening carefully to the wet, rattling sounds in his ribcage.  
    He was shivering so weakly beneath him, gasping and burning hot. And then a small cough suddenly wrenched him hard, threatening to steal the last of his breath away.   
    This was beyond serious! If the healing hands weren’t working...    
    Something was _seriously_ wrong. Sensei had only gotten sick one other time in their lives at best…   
    He visibly wilted. There was no strength anymore, his wise, gentle brown eyes far away and glazed with sick.  
    And then Donnie remembered. There was an injury there on his collar from the previous events with the flood and he quickly moved the fabric aside to check it.   
    _“--Oh no…”_  
    “...Donnie?”   
    The wound looked... _infected_. And those wet sounds in his chest all pointed to something bacterial…    
    It looked like pneumonia! And… and with that infection…. The flood and the wound must have…!   
    That’s why he was so quiet! Why hadn’t they noticed sooner?!   
    “Mikey, I need you to go to my lab. On the second shelf is a bottle with a _semi-synthetic cephalosporin_ powder. Got that?”   
    He nodded briskly and took off.   
    “Leo, my medical equipment. I need several rolls of gauze, hot water and a scalpel.”   
    “On it.”   
    Raph took over easing his father’s head as Leo got up and bolted away.    
    “Raph, I need you to help me get him out to the couch.”   
    He moved without a word, gently hoisting him up from under his arm, his weight draping awkward and heavy around their shoulders.   
    “Easy, _easy_ …” Donnie coaxed. “We’ll get you well, Sensei, I promise.”   
     _“.....Thank... you…... my... sons.”_  
    The sound stung Raph's heart. He'd never heard him sound so fragile.  
    “ _Shhhhh_ , don’t force yourself." And he urged their steps once more.    
    Sensei’s body shook. He had barely the strength to stand, but somehow they managed together, step by step out to the futon, easing him down to another fit of coughs and chopped, shuddering breath.   
  _“…I... did not realize… how fierce...  this illness… would become…… I was...... sure… it would pass… on its own."_  
    “....It’s alright, Sensei,” Raph hushed gently. “...What now, Don?”   
    “Water. And an ice pack," he ordered. "Do you think you can drink, Sensei?”   
    With the ghost of a nod, Raph went off to find them as Master Splinter lied on his back and he closed his eyes.  
    He was meditating... trying to heal. He had probably been doing that by himself the whole time. Donnie hesitated, making sure he was alright alone and quickly retrieved a pen and paper, just as Leo and Mikey came running back with all the things he had asked for.   
    “Hot water, scalpel… and here are your medical supplies,” Leo said, laying them all dutifully in front of him.   
    “And I’ve got the _syphilis-y spore-um_ powder!” Mikey raced forward and put it in his hand.   
    Donatello studied the container carefully. _“Cephalosporin,”_ he corrected absently, his mind calculating. Even with all this, he probably didn’t have enough for the severity of Sensei’s situation, nor the final necessary agents. He set all of the things carefully down on the floor by his side, scribbling out something else on his paper and tore it, giving it to Leo. “I need you to get all these items. Hit up Mr. O’Neil using the emergency signal. Tell him Sensei is extremely sick. It looks upper respiratory… possibly bacterial pneumonia combined with an open wound infection. Anything he can offer will help. Money is no object. I will personally reimburse him myself, double if need be.”   
    The urgency in his voice left no room for error and his blue eyes steeled. “No problem,” he affirmed.   
    “Take the stealth bike.”   
    “Will do." And Leo turned hard, already sprinting out towards the turnstiles.   
    “. . .We have bread like that?” Mikey wondered aloud, stuck on the money.  
    _“Mikey,”_ he ordered, tearing the paper once more. “I need you to go to the nearest drug store. Deactivate all of the cameras and get these. They should be easy enough for you to read.” He dug around and handed him a small fistful of money from his belt pocket. “This is all I have until the end of the week… but it’ll have to do. Now go.”   
    Mikey's wet eyes set. “On it, D…. **BOOYAKASHA!!** ” And he took off, barreling over the threshold at top speed, the mission hot on his heart.   
    “IF YOU CAN’T DO THAT, FIND DR. ROCKWELL!” Don called and then he turned back to his vials, reorganizing, pouring... hands quick, everything precise--just as Raph raced back in with the glass of water, bringing it to his father’s lips, easy against his weaker hands.   
    “Small sips, easy, Sensei…. Don’t you worry about anything,” he promised and tossed the ice pack over. “What’s my next mission, Don?”   
    Donnie led the compress back over to Sensei's brow with hard eyes until Raph understood and took over.    
    “Keep giving him water until I’m done with this. He needs to stay hydrated and we _have_ to break his fever.” And he returned to his task, not wanting to miss a beat.  
    Raph obeyed, though he only succeeded in small swallows, leaving him to worry at those chopped, shallow gasps.   
    He glanced over his shoulder, watching Donnie work, realizing now just how much the flood had probably taken of his supply. But still Donnie's hands moved, and in no time he had finished with some sort of makeshift IV, running some kind of scan over Sensei’s body with a sort of device he could not discern.    
    “Just as I thought… and it’s bad… okay…” he muttered, rummaging again.   
    “...W-What does all of this mean?" Raph wondered. "...Like, pneumonia? What does it do?”   
    "Well... in layman's terms: the infected bacteria from his wound has spread to his lungs, causing them to become inflamed and filling them with pus and fluid so he can't breathe... If we don't do something soon..."   
    Raph’s eyes widened, knowing the terrible end to that sentence.   
    Don met them seriously. _“Water.”_  
    “Yeah. Yeah.” He shook his head, tipping the glass again to his lips, now with purpose.   
    “He needs antibiotics. Some I can help with but…” he swallowed. “…Leo and Mikey need to grab everything on those lists.” He leaned in, examining the wound closer once more. “It looks like something disrupted the healing process at some point… like… _like a knife_ or…”   
    He stopped.  
    Raph studied his face and his voice fell instantly knell. "--Don't you dare say a chainsaw.”   
    Donnie was quiet. “…T-The skin looks serrated.”   
    His fists clenched. A wet, murderous rage surged behind Raphael’s eyes and he whipped to his feet, a sudden whirlwind of fury, fear and sadness, blurring with nowhere to go except for a small stack of video games Mikey had abandoned. In an instant they were hurled across the room, some breaking, rolling, shattering to pieces.   
    And it didn’t calm him. Nothing did. Just bitterness. And panic. He hated himself.  
    He could die. Master Splinter _could **die**_ because of that monster!   
    And he was suffering so much.   
    His hand ran through his mask, kicking the futon. “…I’ll kill that thing. When I find it, I’ll rip it apart! To _shreds_! **YOU HEAR THAT, _CAN_!?!?**” He whirled around the room. **“I’LL TAKE YA OUT!!! PIECE BY PIECE… ‘TIL THERE’S NOTHIN’ LEFT BUT YOUR SORRY _HALF METAL ENTRAILS_!!!” **He roared until his voice cracked.   
    “Raph…!”   
     **“JUST COME AT ME!! _… FIGHT!!” _**  
    **“Raphael!”** Donnie reached for his arm, only to have him wrench from his touch.   
    Raph turned on him now, crazed… but then he paused just long enough, seeing all of it mirrored just a little more fragile in his brother’s features… and how close he had been to spilling his chemicals.   
    “--Raph, this isn’t something I usually _ever_ say but I need you right now.”   
    His words were tall, even. And ones he never took lightly.   
    Finally Raph’s eyes softened, finding his ground… just enough. “…What do ya need me to do?”   
    “I need you to hold him still so I can remove some of that infected skin and tissue and clean it before it gets worse.”   
    His stare hardened. It was well-known that he among all of them didn’t quite have the stomach for something like that… particularly when it came to the suffering of their father.   
    But he took a deep breath. Donnie needed him. And above all, it could save Sensei’s life.   
     _“Let’s do this.”_  
\-   
    The boulevard bowed silent here—airbrushed yellow in funny smog and broken lights, threatening night's end within the hour.   
    He wrinkled his nose to the alleys, reeking of gasoline, cheap booze and burnt rubber; the waning streetlight flickering and groaning across the small corner pharmacy.   
    Mikey rarely ever traveled this part of Langdale, but he remembered this place. It stood almost a beacon among the surrounding places boarded and barred and christened in graffiti tags.  
    He waited on the next uneasing flicker of light, and, eyes hard, leapt up the side to peer over the window's eve.  
    The first camera was fixed up on the far left wall… with two more stationed in the corners. His best bet was probably to sneak in from a vent or ceiling, so he climbed up the brick to the roof’s vent system, wedging his way inside.   
    He hit the floor with three shuriken clenched in his hand. And his throw was precise.  
    Mikey smiled a little to himself, proud of his skill and general ninja awesomeness, even though his brothers weren’t around to appreciate it.   
    Donnie had sent _him_ on this mission! Probably the most important mission of them all and he wasn’t about to mess it up! Master Splinter was counting on him!  
    He glanced suspiciously around and unfurled the crumpled note from his belt pocket, squinting at the handwriting. It was hard to make out.   
    “Leva… _Levo_ …um…” He tried again. “Leva… floxa… no bleh-bleh?”   
    Man, Donnie’s handwriting _really_ sucked today! It looked like some two year old, half-eaten zombie wrote it! Or worse!  
    He gasped aloud at the thought. Maybe the Donnie at home was a zombie! And some evil undead overlord had taken the real Donnie hostage, ready to eat his brains and entrails… holding him at a ransom of 10,000 yen~!  
    “…”  
    _Nonono! Focus!_ He internally chastised himself. He’d have to investigate that later. Right now he had a mission: to find the _Livo-floxen hablablaba!_  
    The flash of a passing car rolled outside the window, pouring light into the room and he ducked low, clutching the note tightly to his shell as it passed… and then his thoughts drew back together.   
    He could do this! He _had_ to!  
    He glanced around once more. Through the dim lighting, were standard rows of over-the-counter remedies… little white bottles for simple things like headaches and allergies beside a modest red counter table that guarded a large glass window to another room with shelves of other medicines.  
    Whatever Donnie wanted, it was probably in there.   
    He hauled shell over the counter side and stood frowning at the tall, dark glass and once again attempted to decode the smudged ink. But it quickly grew frustrating and he turned around, glancing again to the many other medicine rows behind him.   
    It all seemed like an ominous labyrinth staring him down.  
    …  
     _“. . .Ummmm~”_  
\--  
    The ringtone toodled from the floor and Donnie snatched it up with difficulty into the crook of his shoulder. “Talk to me.”  
    Mikey paused awkwardly, _~“Sooo what does the list say again?”_  
     **“ARE YOU SERIOUS?!”**  
     _~“Dude, your handwriting looks like butt when you’re freakin’ out. I can barely make out any of it.”_  
    “MY—!” Donnie sighed impatiently. He didn’t have time for this! Sensei was in an _excruciating_ amount of pain and this was _extremely_ delicate work! How had he possibly screwed up already?! What did he do?! Lose the note?!  
    Master Splinter cringed stiffly in the pain, struggling now for a true breath. Donnie shook his head, trying to train his thought to the list, but it was hard to move and the phone was slipping from his shoulder.  
     _~“…What?”_ Mikey wondered.  
    “Uh… ummmmm…”  
    Raph snatched the phone from across him, still restraining his weak hands from moving and brought it up to his ear. “…What does it start with? …The medicine.”  
     _~“Uhhh… L.”_  
    “Medicine that starts with L!”  
    “Hold him still,” Donnie ordered. And Raph went back and restrained his father’s arms, shooting the phone on speaker and tried not to look at the wound or the twist in the scalpel or the terrible way his father yelled.   
    Donnie rethought. “Uhhhh Levofloxacin… o-or… amoxicillin… vancomycin… Antibiotics will be behind the glass…”  
     _~“I knew it!”_ Mikey piped. _~“Uhh…. can you text that?”_  
    Raph’s eye twitched in rage.  
    “Quick, text it out,” Donnie commanded. “L-e-v-o…”  
    But the phone rang again, interrupting him.   
    “Ugh. Now Leo’s callin’!”  
    “Switch the call,” Donnie replied, steadying his hand and Raph obeyed.   
    “What’s the word?”  
     _~“Hey. April and Mr. O’Neil don’t have much but they’ve got some first aid… and a few things for pain and swelling. Kirby also says he has a few things he can put together for a makeshift numbing agent.”_  
    “That’s perfect. Grab it and hurry.”  
    The phone chirped again. “Mikey?! Again?!” Raph huffed.  
    “He must have hung up.... Hello?”  
    _~“Dude. Letters. Pronto.”_  
    Raph growled. And as Master Splinter’s breath grew more labored and shallow, Donnie’s heart began to race. His vitals began to slip.   
    “L.e.v.o.f.l.o.x.a.c.i.n,” he finished quickly, grabbing the phone. “Amoxacillin or vancomycin... if you can’t do that… just… go find some fever reducer!” He hung up. “His vitals are dropping… We’re losing him!”  
-/  
    _“Ohh… ohhh man~”_ Mikey fretted, spinning around the room in confusion. “Uhhh fever reducer! T-That’s an easy one, right? Ummmmm…”  
    He looked to the signs above, turning quickly down one of the rows, reading the labels of all the little white bottles. “Fever reducer…”   
    There was a whole section for them, but which one should he choose? He didn’t know anything about this stuff!   
     _Master Splinter..._  
    He didn’t have time to mess this up! Sensei was in trouble! He bit the inside of his cheek and grabbed a fistful of all of them, throwing them into his knapsack and ran over to the tall glass. It was locked down tight. There was even a keypad on the door. He needed a five digit passcode thingy to get in.  
    Five digits….  
     _What would Donnie do? What would Donnie do?!_ He glared firmly and went with the one on his heart. It had to be it!  
    0… 0… 000.  
     **WERG! WERG! WERG! WERG! WERG! WERG!!**  
    Alarms peeled a security breach and it was nearly loud enough to deafen. Lights were going off, ringing chaos, the room spinning red!  
    “Oh no, oh no~” He yanked desperately at the door with all his weight, even pushing off with his foot…  
    He blew it! The police were probably on their way and he still couldn’t get into the room with Master Splinter’s medicine!   
    “Gahhhh!” He had to think faster! He took out his kama blade, trying to desperately to hack through the keypad and lock.  
    He just had to get in…. He just _had_ too!  
    Maybe if he could just get through the glass…  
    And then from outside he heard the daunting swell of New York sirens through the twilight, even through the ringing alarms.  
    Mikey’s blood chilled.  
    He took out his small hidden hand blade he kept close and went to war with the glass. But it was too thick. “Ummm~ m-mm…” He looked around, panicked now for a blunt object to help.  
    The sirens were getting louder. Closer.  
    _Louder._  
    His only find was the fire extinguisher mounted on the south wall. And he took it to the glass, crudely smashing into it over, and over, and over...  
    A small, hairline fracture lit up the surface, the sound of the sirens bearing down just as deafening as the alarms.  
    They were just around the corner. He was sure of it!  
     _CRACK!_  
    He managed a small break, barely enough to painful weasel his hand inside of the door to unlock….   
    He couldn’t hear himself think. The whole room rang, his heart racing to the lights as they blurred inside. Red. Blue. Purple…   
    And what was worse: the glass was digging into his arm. He was stuck!!  
    **“THIS IS THE POLICE! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!”**  
    “ _GYAHH!!_ O-Oh man~” he struggled, but it didn’t help. “…This is, like, _a thousand times_ worse than getting your hand caught in the cookie jar~” ****  
Mikey saw the oncoming resistance, the fire extinguisher still clenched in his fist. He flicked the pin and one-handed launched a mess of white foam out into the room. It was just enough so they couldn’t see. He could buy just a fraction of time.  
    The air filled with coughing, muffled yelling, the clatter of police boots. He quickly tore his arm painfully from the glass and grabbed up his satchel and with a smoke bomb, sealed his disappearance in a cloud of violet smoke.  
.  
    The flashing lights stood just beyond him now, the blurring colors seeming to mar all of Langdale. Even with the same despondent police reports and shuffling and sounds, it was unimportant here, just a reminder that New York never slept.   
    Then the yellow sky opened… just a twinkling, smattering musically to the pavement like none of it mattered. Mikey grabbed his arm silently in pain, just a glowing pair of eyes in a forgotten alley.  
    And vanished without a trace.  
-  
-  
     **~Do-Do Do-Do do-didoodoo~**  
    _*Click* “Hey. What’s the report?”  
    “Uh… kinda got busted, dude. Cops got all up in my **grill**! I didn’t get much of the medicine. But I did get some, like, fever reducer and bandages and stuff…”  
    “It’s fine. That sounds like exactly what Donnie needs the most of right now... I’m on my way to another pharmacy anyway. You get that stuff over to Rockwell.”  
    “Rockwell?”  
    You’re closer to the Mutanimals there. If you can get it there, Rockwell can beam it over quicker,”_ he reasoned. _“I’ll go track down the other stuff.”  
    “…Okay. Roger that.”  
    “Roger.” _  
    Leo returned his phone to his belt pocket, parkour leaping low through the shadows and queer light, that expectant rain rumbling somewhere behind on his heels.  
    He sure hoped this place had what he needed. His hands ran the surface of the cold brick, vaulting upwards to the roof, but there weren’t any solid vents at all, none large enough for him to fit. Instead he found a jetted plane of glass, leading down into a small greenhouse.   
    He would have to cut his way through and, soundless and precise, he dropped in without a hitch.  
    He looked around; different potted plants lined in rows… some he recognized, others he didn’t.  
    Kampo herbs... teasel root… other common herbs used in Chinese and Japanese medicine. Leo understood now why Sensei had seemed fond of this shop. It had a lot and was more than just common over the counter and prescription medicines.  
    Leo readjusted his eyes to the room, ready to take out any cameras.   
    But he didn’t find any. And he couldn’t waste time. Donnie’s instructions were very specific. He needed to move.  
    The main part of the shop was in the next room, down five small steps just beyond the cloth Noren divider. And he was about to pass through….  
    When he heard a low creak in the floorboards.   
    Leonardo whirled around, but the air was hollow... all except for a small stalked plant, scritching at a nearby the vent.   
    And the room was still. Like held breath.  
    He continued his trek.   
    Abandoned plants. Emptier shadows. The creaking sound of his own steps filled his ears as he passed cloth divider into the shop; as the first drops of rain pattered the glass.  
    It was fancier than he thought. The shelves were neat, crisp, tall, along the walls, the greenhouse glass carried the half-lit rain, scattering patterns across the floor.   
    But it was the long display cabinet in the center of the rooms caught his eye, his footsteps ever louder.  
There were all kinds of medicines behind the glass… boxes of teas… silk pouches...   
    And one purple pouch with the _exact_ medicine that Donnie needed.  
    And then he heard a sound. It was unmistakable, a presence that made the scales stand on the back of his neck. Someone was behind him. He saw the shadow.  
    But he wouldn't know who. Leo was thrown into the glass.


	19. Baddest in New York

**Chapter 19: Baddest In New York  
**  
    His vision blurred, white noise knock-ringing in his ears, his body heavy with shock and broken glass. He tried desperately to make sense of colors and shapes…. force air to his lungs….  
    _….The medicine._ He could see it. The medicine was right there…. right within his reach…  
    But pain shocked him hard. It was everywhere, rattled and despondent, rooting him still.   
    But he needed to move.  
    A deep, throaty laugh rumbled down the walls, seeping into his skin the danger he was in.  
     _Get up…… Get…. Up…._  
    The laughter lolled through his head on heavy, languid footsteps….  
    Closer…  
     _And closer…._  
    Leo pushed his strength, shaking just to rise from the floor.  
     **“Pathetic,”** the voice drolled. And he heard with it the unmistakable grind of a blade being pulled from its sheath. Instinct took measure, crushing a fistful of glass and hurled it behind him into his assailant’s face.  
     _…Yelling._  
    They’d found target.  It gave him just enough time to focus his vision, finding himself face to face  
…  
     _With Tigerclaw._  
    Leo’s arms continued to shake, reeling in the sting of lesions, his own blood pattering loud to the linoleum floor. He glared in rage.  
     _“It’s been a long time, Leonardo,”_ his deep voice rumbled smug. “…I’m surprised you still have the _nerve_ to show your face….. **after your last failure**.”  
    Leo’s eyes leapt to the medicine. That was all he needed. He could just take it and run.  
    “Have you nothing to say? ...Or are you finally ready to pay for your sins?”  
    Leo didn’t answer, gritting his teeth and the stillness suspended too long and then it was gone in a roar, sharp teeth and golden eyes.   
-  
    Mikey’s eyes narrowed to the screen. He’d called Leo five times now… and he hadn’t answered once. Something was _definitely_ up. He could feel it.  
    ….But… if he _had_ found trouble…   
    ….Maybe he was busy being stealthy doing ninja stuff. Or he was probably calling Donnie! That was probably it!   
    Still…. he should have heard something by now...  
    He glanced over idly as the Mutanimals worked, their conversations white noise. He firmly dialed back to the lair.  
    And Raph answered on the first ring. _“What’s happenin’ bro?”_  
    Slash heard the voice from the receiver: “Is Master Splinter okay?” he asked concerned.  
    Raph looked over to Donnie, who was hard focused with his tweezers, pulling at their father’s discolored flesh in a way that made him cringe.  
    “The meds you guys sent over are finally working,” Donnie replied. “He’s taking the pain much better and I’m able to contain the mess… but that’s about all I can really say for it. I’m still waiting on Leo’s end…”  
    ** _“...Soooo… wait. You haven’t heard from Leo either?”_** Mikey wondered.  
    Something about that sent a pit straight to Raph’s stomach and he snatched the phone. “ _Wait a minute_ …. I thought…. Whaddaya mean you haven’t heard from him?!”  
     _“We separated downtown… and now the phone’s makin’ this weird noise when I call….”_  
    Raph’s eyes widened. “. . .Mikey, I’ll call you back.” He hung up, frantically skimming the contacts.  
-  
    “Hrrgh! Hnng! Gya!! _Hah_.”  Leo staggered back, ready again with his sword in another swing, dodging and kicking, feeling almost unbalanced in every attack he caught.  
    Metal sang and blades clashed. It was all a battle of mind and aged disdain, weapons hiding under his claws, certain murder behind tiger eyes.  
    But it brought out the fight in Leo, every swipe danger, focus in motion. He _would_ make it home. There just wasn’t room for error with Master Splinter in the mix. Donnie _needed_ that medicine.  
    Leo heard the T-phone buzzing across the floor beneath the debris, but he paid it no mind.  
    Snarls. A slash of fur, growls, glass at their feet. Leo’s struck at his knees, before one powerful paw sent him sprawling on his shell again through drywall.  
    The T-phone buzzed again. This time right by his ear.  
     **“I’ve got you now!”** Tigerclaw sneered. **“This time is futile.”**  
    His eyes set cold, throwing an eggshell of blinding powder and in the confusion caught his grappling hook tight around Tigerclaw’s neck and swung on his back, dagger to his throat.  
    _“Not tonight."_  
    Tigerclaw struggled to get him off his back but Leo was quicker, tightening the rope, throwing a shuriken at his heel to off balance him. And it worked.  
    He toppled to the floor, crashing down into the debris.  
    Leo tried to catch his breath. “Now just… stay down for once!” He picked up his phone. “Hey. What’s up?”  
     _“LEO!”_ Raph’s voice cracked with relief. _“Where are you?! What’s goin’ on?”_  
    Leo scooped up the medicine from the floor, tossing it up in the moment of his casual victory and made his way towards the door…. when something dark, a shadow rose from the floor…  
    “I’ve got the medicine now. I’ll be there in a few…. _AUGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!_ ”  
     **“LEO?!!”**  
    ** _“NO! NOOO!!! Get off me!! G-GET…_. **mmffffhnnghfAAHHfffn!!”  
    **“LEO!!!”**  
-  
-  
…..  
    Mikey lingered again on the empty phone line. “Guys,” he looked over to the Mutanimals. “I think Leo’s in trouble.”  
    “That means he won’t get to Master Splinter in time,” Leatherhead said worriedly.  
    “What should we do?!” Slash wondered. “We must rescue our friend.”  
    From his seat Dr. Rockwell swiveled between his concoctions on the counter, summoning different powders and medicines with his mind. “This _is_ quite distressing,” he admitted. “Without those components, why, we’d have to procure a miracle or break into a _hospital_ to make this… ”  
    Mikey glanced again to the light of his phone and a sparkle lit up in his eyes. “Guys… I have an idea….”  
-  
    His nervous pacing was wearing a hole in the floor. There was still no answer and the sound of the dial tone echoed through his head.  
    Raph cursed under his breath.  
     _Great_! Leo was in trouble. _And_ so was Sensei.  
    There was nothing he could do. He couldn’t think of anything. He felt useless and nothing made him angrier.  
    He shouldn’t be here! He should be out there with them! If they had just been paying attention in the first place none of this would have happened!   
    This was all his fault! What if Mutadroid had him?! Or worse, had already torn him apart?! They couldn’t even find him!  
    Raph tried the number again… but still he got no reply and he turned on his heel.   
    “I’m goin’ out there.”  
    “What? Where?” Donnie demanded.  
    “To find Leo.”  
    “You don’t even know where he is! And I need you here.”  
    “For what?! I ain’t standin around here doin’ nothin’!” he gnarred. “ _You_ got Splinter. I’m gonna get Leo.”  
    “We don’t have time! Mikey’s closer…”  
    “ _What_ , so he can be potential Droid food now too?!”  
    “Raph…!”  
     ** _Beep.Beep.Beep.Beep.Beep_**  
    Donnie’s attention flung to the monitor’s stats.   
    His heart…. His brain…  
    No. _It was his oxygen._ He wasn’t getting enough oxygen. Donnie’s mind double timed in panic.  
    “Raph, hand me that resuscitator. The blue thing,” he rushed.  
    Raph looked over at the contraption and obeyed.  
    “Hold this.” Donnie placed a full needle in his hand and Raph’s eyes widened at the sight. “I need you to pump oxygen and I’ll give him this shot… Can you handle it?”  
    His eyes grew wide at the sight of the needle.  
    Donnie’s eyes steeled. “This is gonna hurt….”  
-  
-  
     _“OOF!!”_ The throw cracked the drywall but still he staggered to his feet.  
    Another swing. Angry roars… clashing metal and claws.  
    Leo rode on adrenaline alone, dodging the ruins of the shop. The dust of the drywall stung his eyes.  
    Tigerclaw lunged at top speed. He’d had the upper hand in raw strength and those murderous eyes held no reprieve. “Tell me, Turtle:  how is it you sleep at night?”  
    Leo vaulted over the fallen shelves, throwing a throwing star with precision that nicked the cat’s face.  
    But it only angered him and in another launch, he had him by the cuff of his shell.  
    “Do you even remember that night in the harbor….!”  
    Leo spun skillfully out of his grasp, punching a fistful of blinding powder in the cat’s eyes and retreated, turning his moves to his own advantage.   
    But the battle was far from over.   
    Tigerclaw met the blows even with the stinging in his eyes, but with a swing of his paw, he was gone. “Is that who you are now? Running away from your sins like a coward…?!”  
    Leo listened from his perch like a viper.  
    Tigerclaw plodded the room. “She could have lived, you know. That child had no place being there. You would have known that… had you not have been careless…” He stilled his breath, listening for the sound of the reptile, bated for his intent.  
    Leo paused came in low, knocking over one of the glass shelves onto his back. “How’s that for careless?!” He looked around quick, trying to pinpoint the medicine in the rubble, or the ringing of his phone.  
    Claws spread from beneath the rubble, pushing the weight of the shelf off of him.  
    Leo whirled around.  
    “….Do you remember…. the last thing she spoke…?”  
    Leo glared, stalking back. He needed to finish this now, before Tigerclaw got back his feet.  
    **“The last look she ever gave you…!”**  
    Leo faltered, for a moment, unhinged. Tigerclaw saw it in his eyes. His words had seeped to his brain. He’d found the weak spot, the one memory he couldn’t let go.  
    It was just a crack in his step. Her terrified eyes, that honey gold against flames, twisted in an acceptance. Her arm outstretched. It still played behind his eyelids.  
    His sword fell slack in his hand.  
    Tigerclaw’s mouth upturned to a crooked smile, sauntering over reveling in his imminent victory. He goaded him further: “The last time she ever touched you…”  
    His jaw grew tight.   
    _She’d pushed him. She had pushed him away…_  
    Tigerclaw grabbed him and yanked him up by his bad arm. He screamed in pain. _“Time doesn’t heal all wounds, does it, Leonardo?”_  
    Leo wailed, desperately trying to pry out of his grasp before he splintered his arm into pieces.  
    “You know, the bounty the Shredder has put on you is enough for me to retire…”  
    He kicked weakly, there was a pop in his bones. The phone rang.  
    And he screamed.  
\-   
-  
     _~“Donatello.”~_  
    Donnie and Raph looked over as Dr. Rockwell’s face projected on a hologram from Metalhead’s chest across the room.  
    But he ignored it in the pressing emergency. “Not now Rockwell.”  
    “Donatello I’m putting together some components that might buy us some extra time to….”  
    “Sounds great, Doc,” his hands scattered. “ _reaaaally_ trying to keep my dad alive right now so if you’re going to try something by all means PLEASE DO IT IMMEDIATELY!”  
    “…Alright,” Dr. Rockwell frowned, “but really now, there’s no need yell…”  
    “ _Hey_.” Raph glared. “This is an emergency situation. We can talk language later. The man needs meds... are ya gonna help him or not?!”  
    “RAPH!” Donnie called over desperately. The frantic sounds were swelling louder and faster. And as Raph ran to his aid, their father’s body began to convulse. “His lungs are on the verge of collapse!”   
     _“Here.”_ Rockwell’s fingers clattered the keyboard through the hologram, accessing the Kraang portal device Donnie kept in his room, delivering the meager supplies.  
    He added it to his feeds, but the convulsing wouldn’t stop.  
    Donnie saw the terror lock in his father’s eyes. The beeping clouded over. Raph’s panicked voice turned to static.   
    The yelling demands of Rockwell. The phone. Mikey’s muffled yelling….   
    It all blurred together.  
    Nothing was working… His hands weren’t moving. The bottles in front of him didn’t make sense….  
    Yelling. Gripping danger….   
    Accusation.  
    The pressure.  
    It was all so much…  
    Donnie froze.  
  _“HAS HE LOST HIS MIND?!?”      “WHAT’S GOING ON?!”      “HE’S STOPPED BREATHING?!!”    “WHY ISN’T HE DOING ANYTHING?!?!”  
    BuzzzzzBuzzzzzz _  
    “What are ya doin?!” Raph yelled.  
    But no reply came. And then Raph saw that blank panic in his eyes. “Donnie! Come on...”   
    “I… I CAN’T!” His breath trapped in his chest. “I CAN’T DO IT! I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO!”  
    He grabbed his shoulders. “Ya gotta get it together, okay? Stay with me. You can do this!”  
    “I…!”  
    The doubt doubled in his features. All the knowledge he had ever acquired on this came from ripped, discarded books he found in the back of a dumpster! And it wasn’t enough! It just wasn’t enough…  
    He was going to mess this up…. He’d done it before…   
    “HEY.” Raph shook his shoulders firmly. “You can do this, Donnie. _Like no one else can.”_  
    Donnie stared at him. And found Raph’s warm, lopsided smile.  
    It all happened in what seemed like sheer moments, but they were exactly what Donatello needed to breathe. That determination rekindled and he climbed over their father. “Grab that vile and syringe over there and stand by.”  
    Don grabbed a needle from the floor and without hesitation, plunged it into his father’s chest.  
-  
-  
    He screamed, pawing desperately for his dislocated arm, to find any clarity through the torture, but Tigerclaw only squeezed harder, laughed louder.  
    Leo tried to find something, anything…. A hidden blade in his wraps. But it was gone with his strength. He couldn’t move.  
    Then Tigerclaw drew his sword close.  
    Leo shut his eyes to summon one last feat of strength, but his kick was limp, his fingers deft. He had no leverage.  
    It was over.  
    His last fleeting thought was of Karai and all he had held of her and all of his failures.  
     **“BOOYAKASHA!!!!”**  
    Suddenly there was a kick and shatter of glass. Michelangelo stood front and center with seriousness in his eyes and the Mutanimals behind him.  
    “The cavalry’s here, Leonardo,” Dr. Rockwell announced.  
    “Mikey! Guys!”  
    Leatherhead. Slash. Rockwell and Pigeon Pete….  
    “MUTANIMALS…. ATTAAAACK!!” Mikey ordered in a battle cry and the team thundered forward, Slash and Leatherhead leading the fray.  
Tigerclaw was rushed by the brute strength of the mutants and he threw Leo’s limp frame to the floor.  
    Mikey rushed to his side, slinging his arm around his shoulders. “I’ve gotchya bro.”  
    Leo winced as he was brought to his feet.  
    “Where’s the medicine stuff?!” Mikey rushed.  
    “Over there in the rubble!”  
    He followed his line of sight, then to the brawl of Tigerclaw and their friends.   
    Mikey led both of them over, finding the purple pouch held by a string and snatched it from the glass.   
    The fight behind them was decided. Rockwell’s psychic abilities turned the tables, pinning Tigerclaw to the wall.  
    “We’ve got what we needed!” Leo announced.   
    “Then that’s our cue.” Slash dealt one last blow to the restrained cat and Pigeon Pete pecked him in the face for good measure.  
    “See ya around! Bring bread next time!” Petey waved and with a victorious laugh, Tigerclaw was tossed to the floor and the group was gone.  
.  
    Dr. Rockwell carefully pushed the invented buttons on his arm, bringing bright pink light in what seemed to be a hologram. “The formula is sent through. This should do it.”  
    “I just hope we’re not too late,” Leo muttered.  
    “That medicine you grabbed _should_ work in tandem with what Michelangelo retrieved from the hospital, though timing is of the essence.”  
    Mikey looked over at Leo. “Sorry I was late by the way,” he said sheepishly. “Hospitals are really confusing.”  
    “I’m just glad you showed up,” Leo said relieved. They bumped knuckles and they stared over the city. “Hopefully Donnie can pull off a miracle.”  
-  
\-   
    “I could _really_ use a miracle,” Donnie muttered. “Sensei, stay with me.”   
    His strength was drained. His fever was returning, raising higher.   
    “The infection’s getting worse by the second. I’m seriously not sure we can fight this…”  
    Raph whirled around in the panic, noticing a strange humming and glow from Metalhead from the corner of his eye, holding something from his chest.     “It’s the medicine. Mikey’s got it,” His eyes widened.  
    All at once Master Splinter’s body began to shake and he let out a pained scream.  
    “BRING IT HERE NOW!”  
    Raph ran over and grabbed them in a panic. “I don’t know which one’s which!”  
    “JUST GIVE THEM TO ME!” Donnie seized a sort of bulb from the pouch and gave it back to Raph. “Smash it,” he ordered.  
    “What?” Raph looked confused.  
    “Smash. It.”   
    Raph quickly put it on the ground and crushed it with his fist. And Donnie scooped it up, mixing it into the strange jelly-ish concoction he had mixed on the floor and had slathered it over the wound.  
    “Hand me three more. This time don’t smash,” he ordered.  
    Again, he obeyed, this time urging Sensei to take them with the mixture. “I hope this works.”  
    It was all they could do. There was nothing either of them could do further, even when their father curl up in pain. And every cell in Donnie’s body hardened to the possibility that it was too late.  
    And then… he stopped shaking. He opened his eyes. He grunted at the strange sensation.  
    _“My… sons…”_  
    Even Raph felt the change in his demeanor.   
    “Sensei…” Donnie felt his face for temperature. “His fever’s starting to break…. We did it. WE DID IT!”  
    Raph beamed with excitement. “ALRIGHT!!” They shared a High Three in relieved laughter as Donnie’s phone twittered a video message from Rockwell:  
    _~“Donatello, I trust you have received the medications we sent…”~_  
    “We did. We just gave it to him and his fever’s already starting to recede.”  
  _“Wonderful. Then our work here is done.”_  
    “I can’t thank you enough.” Relief spread in Donatello’s smile.  
    _“Nothing we wouldn’t do for friends,”_ Rockwell replied. _“Be sure to give him food right away. That mixture will surely take the stuffing out of him otherwise.”_  
    “We’ll do that now. Have you heard from Leo or Mikey?”  
    _~“You mean, us?!”_ Mikey took hold of the phone, a cocky grin on his face and an arm around Leo.  
    “GUYS!!” Raph and Donnie grinned.  
     _“First of all: you’re welcome. Second: We are the baddest ninjas this side of New York~!!”_  
    “Heck yeah we are!” Raph threw his arm around Donnie’s shoulder and Donnie’s heart fluttered.   
     _“We’ll be back in a minute,”_ Leo assured. _“We got some extra supplies since we know our stock’s bad. Keep us posted if you think of anything.”_  
    “Will do,” Donnie promised.  
    _“And don’t you go messin’ up my kitchen!”_ Mikey warned accusingly and took the phone, giving the screen the evilest eye he could muster. _“I want everything back in order when I get back.”_  
    Raph smirked devilishly. “We’ll make no such promises.”  
     _“C’mon dudes~ I literately_ _**just**_ _put it back together!”_  
     _“Uh oh!”_ Donnie looked back in mock panic. “ _There seems to have been some sort of an explosion…”_  
    “Yep. It seems to be all of your forks!” Raph added. “They go in the toaster, right?!”  
    Mikey’s eyes widened. _“What?! GUYS--!”_  
    They snapped the phone shut, barely withholding a snicker at his expense and Donnie’s eyes were back on business. “Alright. Let’s see what we can whip up.”


	20. Nullified

**CHAPTER 20: Nullified  
  
**         Donnie shot him a look as he turned for the kitchen. Tentative victory was in the air for now, just enough to find its way in Raphael’s swagger. This part should be easy, so long as they moved quick. The antibiotics should take effect relatively soon, as long as Master Splinter retained his strength.   
       “We’ve SO got this.”  
        “We’ve got all the food that April brought from earlier too,” Donnie agreed. “This should be easy.”   
        Raph turned with a smile from the cabinets. “I’ve got a better idea.”   
        Donnie raised a brow. “Oh?”   
        “I think I finally get what Master Splinter said about the whole bein’ resourceful thing. Here, hand me the can opener.”   
         Donnie looked to the counter, but it wasn’t there. “We seriously need to talk to Mikey about moving that thing around. I literately _just_ fixed it.”   
         Raph shrugged and took out his sai, working the edges around the can with the prong, along the remainder of the ham and a few other items that had survived their ordeal. “Hand me some of those spices.”   
         Donnie did so, watching Raph’s every move as he turned on the stove, working so diligently. “Since when do you know your way around the kitchen? If I recall, last time you set the toaster on fire.”   
        “Hey, I’ve been payin’ attention… a little. Besides, it’s just minor cookin stuff. How hard can it be?”   
        As soon as the words left his mouth, the flames on the stove leapt out of control in a _whoosh_ , leaving Raph to scramble frantically to bring them down.   
          Donnie chuckled warmly. “Here.” Raph could feel his presence against his shell as he reached around to turn the dial. “It’s this one.”   
          There was that seductive quality in his voice again and it made him shift.   
          “Mikey makes it look easy, huh?”   
          “I don’t know. With some of the creations he comes up with? Can’t be much worse.”   
           It was then that Raph started to pour spices in the bowl, messy, sporadic and careless, not even bothering to look at the labels.    
          “Jeez Raph. Easy! You’ll make it way too spicy at that rate!”   
          “Hey. Spice is a good thing. Gives it flavor.”   
          “While I don’t disagree, I’m sure Master Splinter doesn’t want his tongue on fire when he’s already sick. Here, I’ll even it out.”   
           Donnie grabbed the canister of sugar from the cabinet and Raph stared in disapproval.   
          “Balance,” he stated matter-of-factly. But he didn’t stop pouring and soon half the bag was of sugar was filling up the bowl.  
           Raph grimaced. “Yeah, cuz nothin’ says gourmet like spicy sugar ham.” He took the bag from his hand to end the culinary horror. “Pretty, sure you’ve just caused a crime against food.”  
           “Hey! Sugar is way better than spice!”   
           “Well, I like it hot.” Raph’s eyes widened, cringing as soon as the words left his mouth. Shell, he was bad at phrasing lately.   
           Donnie smirked, seeing through his awkward reaction. “I think we can save it.”   
           “Shut it.” He nudged and crossed his arms tight, his face turning a shade of color, tentatively allowing Donnie to take over. “Seriously though, you always make it way too sweet.”   
           “That _is_ a common complaint.” He paused. “Perhaps a compromise is in order?”   
            They both looked into the bowl and two worked together, Donnie carefully measuring, added with Raphael’s occasional dash of spontaneity. But soon it was smelling… good.    
            Actually, it smelled kind of wonderful.   
            They heard a groan from Master Splinter, bringing back their attention.   
            Donnie gathered the bowl. “Alright, it’s done. Come on, we need to get this to him quick.”   
            Raph grabbed a spoon from the drawer as Donnie took it to their father’s side.   
           “Up and easy, Master Splinter.” Raph ran to the head of the futon, lifting him upright, just enough so that he could eat.  
           “We need you to eat, okay Sensei?”   
            Their father winced, and by the weak shuddering of his chest, they had little time to waste.   
            Donnie gathered a spoonful. “Here, we—”   
            His long ears flickered. And his hands rose to stop his noise, his weak and trembling to meet the warm bowl in his hands.   
            Worry touched Donnie’s features. “A-Are you sure?”   
            With the weakest nod, Donnie let their creation go, wrought with worry.    
            Raph put a hand on Donnie’s shoulder. “Do you need anything else, Sensei? Is there something we can do?”   
            Their father regarded them without a word. Even while weak, his presence was commanding. He brought the bowl to his lips, taking a small draw from their concoction, his sons watching with bated breath.   
            Then he opened his eyes and looked down at the bowl. And the smile spread across his face. “Thank you, my sons.”   
            Grins lit up their faces and Raph couldn’t resist a small shout of victory.   
            “You did well. I’m especially impressed with your… culinary venture.”  
            “Yeah, well—” Pride visibly rolled off Raph’s shoulders. “We finally got what you said about bein’ resourceful.”  
            “I also see the _kitchen_ is intact.” He took another sip of the stew.  
            Raph blanched a little. “Hey, I think I take offense to that.”  
            “My sons. Not only have you been resourceful in your endeavors, you put aside everything and worked together, supported each other, trusted your instincts. I know lately there has been quite the tension between the two of you.”   
             The two went rigid, hearts to the floor.  
             “T-T-Tension?”  
             “What tension?!” Raph’s face went hot with panic.   
              Master Splinter raised a hand to silence them. “Whatever differences you had, they do not matter anymore.” His hands still shook as he slowly moved the bowl so they could see inside. Tell me, what do you see?”  
             “Whatever it is we just made?” Raph answered with a shrug.  
             Donnie hesitated with his answer. “—It’s almost empty,” he observed.  
             Another smile set across his whiskers. “Yes, it is. Because it is good…. The spice I taste from Raphael balances the sweet that Donatello usually brings…. They complement one another—Much like your taste in food, you two are quite different…. Yet when you two come together, putting your differences aside, there is a strength rarely seen… one with the power to create something extraordinary.”  
            By the time he had finished, Donatello and Raphael had devolved, staring into the other, far lost from his praise.  
They were only interrupted by a new sound at the turnstile entrance.  
           “Guys, a little help over here?” Mikey staggered in the entrance, supporting a very pained Leo.  
           “LEO!”  
           Raph was up in an instant, sprinting to his side. “What happened out there?! I’ll take him, Mikey.”  
           Mikey shifted his weight and Leo was immediately in his arms. “Tigerclaw ambushed me down at the medicine house. I’m fine, Raph,” he winced.  
            “Tigerclaw?!” His eyes hardened, turning his arm over once, earning horrible yelp from his brother. “What did he want?”  
            “To wreck my day, as per usual.”  
            He studied his face, already having a feeling what it was about. “…Come on, I’ll get you fixed up.”  
            Donnie’s shoulders were tense as he walked past, leading him to the bathroom and Donnie watched them go.  
            “Is Master Splinter okay?” Mikey worried.  
            Donnie blinked, distracted. “Yes, um…”  
            “I am fine, boys,” he answered. “Go. Tend to your brother.”  
            Donnie nodded curtly and Mikey followed him to the bathroom, listening as Leo began his tale of events.  
            Raph gratefully took to the new supplies, rummaging through to treat his wounds, hanging onto Leo’s story from between his knees.  
            For whatever the reason now, it bristled at Donnie’s nerves.   
             _“Raph.”_  
            He looked up.  
            “Wrong angle.”  
            There was a quiet, waiting for him to continue.  
            “You’re um… a-at the wrong angle. I’ll just… take over.”  
            Raph moved to the side as Donnie took his place to study the wound. “His ulna and radius are both broken… with what looks like another snap at the joint. You’re going to need a full splint.”  
            “AW WHAT?!” Leo groaned, eyes wide. “You can’t be serious!”  
            “Sorry, Leo. You aren’t going on any missions for a while. Mikey, hand me a nun-chuck.”  
            Mikey wrinkled his nose but obliged. “Ugh, he’s going to slobber all over it.”  
            “You’ll manage.” Donnie braced him, looking him dead in the eyes. “This is going to hurt…. A lot.”  
            Leo visibly began to sweat. “C-Can’t be any worse than when… AUGH! SON OF A—!!”  
            Raph capped off his screams as Donnie wrestled his contorted arm into place and splinted it off, handing Mikey back his chuck.  
            “I’m going to give you the same medicine I gave to Master Splinter for the swelling. You’ll sleep better. I’m very serious about being easy on your arm though, Leo. I do not want to patch it up again this week.”  
            Leo was still trying to mentally push down the seering pain. “U-Understood.”  
            “Doctor Donnie has spoken,” Raph ordered.   
            “Speaking of which, how _is_ Master Splinter?” he wondered.  
            Mikey peeked out the door. Master Splinter was sprawled across the futon, fast asleep. He was even snoring. And he never went to sleep that hard.  
            “Do you think he’s dead~?” Mikey squeaked.  
            “No, the medicine I gave him should knock him out for at least ten hours. He’ll be fine, Mikey.”  
            “We should _all_ get some sleep,” Leo said. “…I may not be able to fight, but there are a lot of threats going on right now… and I want us to be ready.”  
            “I hear that,” Mikey muffle agreed, his cheeks suddenly full.   
            The three looked over in surprise. In no time at all Mikey was bent over the bowl, loudly chowing down on the stew that had been left out on the counter.   
            Nobody knew when or how he gotten ahold of it, but it was a marvel watching the speed and precision with which he stuffed his face.  
            “Mikey, knock it off,” Leo scolded. “What is that?”  
            “Mmmmmm~ I don’t know, but you gotta try it, bruh.”  
            Before Leo could object, Mikey had gathered a ladle full and violently shoved it into his mouth.  
Leo wanted to yell at him but he stopped. “Actually, this really _is_ good. What is it?”  
            “Oh, um…” Donnie blinked, rubbing his arm modestly, looking to Raph. “We—”  
            “We, uh, made it for Master Splinter,” Raph finished.  
            “…You guys made this?” Leo asked. “I’m impressed.”  
            “Meeeee toooooo~” Mikey groaned lazily from the floor, completely stuffed to a food coma, the empty bowl laying on the floor beside him. He belched loudly.  
            Raph growled in frustration.  
            “Well, at least that takes care of the mess…” Donnie remarked.  
            “That’s one way to put it,” Leo agreed and turned down the hallway. “I’m heading off to bed guys, goodnight.”  
            “Goodnight, Leo. Mikey…” Donnie started, but his face deadpanned, finding Mikey already sound asleep on the floor. “Ooof course. Well…”  
            Donnie turned on his heels to find himself face to face with those green eyes currently twisting at his stomach. His face felt warm.   
            It was always him.  
            “U-um…” He blinked, nearly fumbling what to say. “Goodnight… Raph.”  
            Was he always this flustered?  
            Donnie’s expression seemed unreadable and Raph’s mouth turned to that lilted smile at the want and innocence of it.             “Goodnight, Don.”  
            Then he was gone and Donnie shut his door, trying to purge the quiet sensations with tired eyes and that small pull of lust.   
            And as Raph’s door shut behind with a click of the lock, he decided something important to himself. Something he couldn’t do tonight. The promise he had made to himself before about not making a move on Don was nullified.  
            The next time he saw the opportunity, he _would_ kiss him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an old fanfic of mine that I'm determined to finish. Never put it on Ao3. I'd love to find out if anyone on this site likes it. I like making stories.


	21. Just One Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mature Warning

**Chapter 21: Just One Night**

It was still there—lingering between city lights and the shadowy ruin of the medicine shop.

Cogs. Spare parts. Breathing. Creaking.

Fresh blades cranked against the floor, its red eyes rising.

It squelched across the ceiling, stretching down over tile and shattered glass—the wreckage still a mystery to the authorities outside.

Slow. Deliberate. Searching…

And then it stopped.

There was a picture lying in the rubble of a young woman with black hair. It was well traveled, blotted with water stains, its corners worn with age.

Mutadroid’s strange hand struggled to hold it, hot acid dripping from its jagged teeth. Then a horrible squelch ripped from its body and it screamed, growing, stretching beyond control.

A woman passing on the street clutched her child at the sight.

She managed to scream. But nothing more.

-

-

_Dopamine… Norepinephrine… Testosterone…_

Donnie’s eyes shot open. Gasping and in a sweat.

_Again._

He checked his bedding. For what, he wasn’t sure anymore. The only thing he knew was his shell felt tight. Inconceivably, _uncomfortably_ tight. The room was too hot, and the queer light on the nightstand mocked once more that he shouldn’t be awake.

He kicked out of the covers.

His pillow smelled like Raph. Even though he hadn’t been there.

Everything did. He wasn’t sure how or why. Perhaps it was by some twisted, wistful desire of the mind. He could smell in the room where Raph had been. And he hated it.

Donnie left his bedroom, trudging the hall to clear his thoughts.

If he _had_ to be awake, the least he could do was check on their father.

The main room was dark and quiet. Mikey had gone to bed. Master Splinter was still sound asleep where he had left him.

Donnie ran a hand through his mask and turned to take his leave.

And then he paused.

Raph’s door was open.

Donnie went to it, venturing a whisper, though he didn’t know why.

_“Raph…”_

But no reply came. And after a brief pause, he retreated to his lab to bury himself in wires. Keep his hands busy.

His head was all foggy… and heavy…

Maybe he should take a cold shower…?

He shut his eyes.

_Dopamine. Norepinephrine. Testosterone._

That’s all this was. It would pass.

He took a deep breath and tossed his thoughts to his lab. The familiar beakers, wires and electronics promised a refuge from his mind. He flicked the light on beside his microscope, turning to the sample that had been previously extracted from April’s room.

It forced his mind’s focus on serious matters.

The chainbugs. Mutadroid. His family.

If mutagen _was_ serving as both a bonding agent and inhibitor to the biological components of Mutadroid and the chainbugs, that would make sense. It could explain how and why the metal had warped to it. Shell, it could even explain certain increases of Mutadroid’s intellect.

What it _didn’t_ explain was how all these problems had somehow—fused. It was as if the metal itself was becoming sentient. The biological parts were trading, sharing information with the metal. And the metal was _responding_ , sometimes even trading properties with the other, fusing into one!

And what’s more, they were adapting. Constantly. With no sign of stopping. Normal mutagen peaked almost instantly with biological contact, and the mutation stayed constant.

This wasn’t like that at all.

Mutadroid was still learning, getting larger by the second. He was reproducing these tiny machines on command. And they _themselves_ were, at a base level, intelligent.

He had never seen anything like it.

There were things he could _compare_ it to, but even those didn’t seem quite right.

Something was missing. Something he had overlooked. He was sure of it. It was right under his nose…

…

But his brain found nothing. And he couldn’t help but sigh.

This wasn’t easing his frustration. And _certainly_ not helping him forget….

“—Donnie?”

His eyes snapped up from the microscope.

And there he was. The one and only center of his problems, standing in his doorway.

Raph rubbed the back of his neck, gruff and tired, and that sick anticipation sank in Donnie’s chest.

“R-Raph? Um… What are you doing awake?”

“Ehh… couldn’t sleep,” he answered. “Thought I’d check in on Master Splinter…. You?”

              “Um, same reason, I suppose.” Donnie watched every motion as he sauntered over, how he turned out to the main room.

“Yeah. I dunno. Been gettin’ the creeps around here lately.”

              “I don’t blame you there,” he admitted. “It’s actually why I’m still up. Thought I’d see if I can find anything.”

“Any luck?”

“Nothing… significant. The more I stare at it, the more confusing it becomes. It seems like I’m missing something.”

Raph motioned to the microscope. “—Mind if I…?”

Donnie blinked for a moment, processing the request. “Uh… be my guest.” He pushed away on the swivel chair, allowing him to look.

It was an odd sight to say the least.

His eyes wandered down his frame.

“What do you see here, Don?”

“Hm?”

“You’re the smart guy here,” Raph replied. “What do you see when you look at all this?”

“Well…” Donnie stepped back to the microscope, into his space. “I see metal. Mitochondrial nuclei… er—you see these squiggly parts? They’re reacting biochemically with the metal, trying to fuse and grow. Even as we speak, the chainbug’s trying to regenerate.”

“ _Great_.” He deadpanned. “Any ideas in there for us tryin’ to beat this thing?”

“Not in the slightest.”

Raph could hear the small frustration and exhaustion in his voice, and he knocked his arm. “Well, you’ll get it. You always do.”

Donnie rolled his eyes. “Thank you for the vote of confidence.”

“Anytime.”

And there it was again. That loaded, tumultuous silence where their gazes held too long.

Suddenly, Donnie couldn’t remember the names of all the chemicals in his head.

His thoughts muddled. The excuses died.

“I must be losing my mind.” And before he could stop himself, he leaned into Raph and took that dare on his heart.

His lips were warm. Masculine. Clumsy and innocent. Hands shaking as they pulled away…

Who ever thought time and space could buckle over something so simple?

Then it was over, and Raph blinked as if he’d missed it. “Uh…?”

“One night,” Donnie rushed. “I-It’s all… dopamine, norepinephrine and testosterone all mixed up in a terrible mess, but _dang it_ if it isn’t—”

Raph snatched Donnie back into his arms, kissing those words from his mouth.

He needed it. All of him. Nothing else mattered.

They crashed into the desk, shell on shell, everything a blur. Hot breath. Calloused hands. Sighs where sewer air didn’t live…

Kissing Donnie was perfect.

Raph gasped for air. “ _Jeez,_ Donnie. Not even gonna to wine and dine me?”

“Shut it.”

And they were together again. Scales and skin. Hands grasping—tasting every sin and spark on his tongue…

Raph fumbled with the lab equipment beneath him, but Donnie didn’t care…

Until their hands found a certain book.

They both stopped. Donnie’s eyes went wide. And there was something in his stare that nearly made him shudder.

_“Lock the door.”_

Raph obeyed, no thought in his head. In a moment, he was there, heart pounding as the lock clicked shut.

What were they doing? _What was happening?!_

“One night.” Donnie’s voice rang quiet to him in the dim light. “We act on this. All of it. Right here. Right now. Before we change our minds or have any second thoughts.”

Raph found him and pulled him in, breathlessly close to his lips. “Ya already got me.”

Donnie pushed back. “…I-I don’t think you understand my… _intentions_...”

Raph eyed him curiously, trying to sober his thoughts to what that meant.

What he found in Donnie’s eyes was lust. A sheer seductive gravity that threw him out of orbit.

_‘…All of it...’_

No way. There was absolutely _no way_ Donnie was suggesting what he thought he was suggesting…

But that silence and his stare said otherwise.

“Woah… wait a minute.” He pushed away. “A-Are you serious right now?”

“Look, we both clearly want this,” he reasoned. “A-And if we don’t, it’s just going to be there, eating away at us until it drives us insane.”

Raph felt like he’d _long_ jumped that crazy train, but _this_ was something he had not prepared for.

Donnie blushed and averted his eyes. “I-It’s a _natural_ biological process—a chemical need as it were.” He tried to be confident, but as the silence and reality glared, his nerves began to tank. “O-or you could say no a-and _completely_ forget all about this! Heh, y-you know, fun fact, I can actually list all the chemicals going on in our brains right now—s-starting with adrenaline—”

“ _Hey_. Ixnay on the nerd language.”

Donnie twirled his fingers nervously and shut up. “T-The point is—I’m alright with it if you are.”

That silence reformed, carrying that want, fear. A thousand things.

 _Oh,_ he should say no. Be the responsible brother. Shrug it off. Joke that he was being crazy. Remind him, again: they were brothers.

But one look at Donnie and he lost his nerve.

 _Shell_ , how did he get to a point in his life where his own brother could do this to him?

He ran a hand ran through his mask. _“Just…”_

**_“Just once.”_ **

They’d said it together.

Raph’s eyes leapt to his. “I’m okay with that…. and then we _never_ speak of it again, right?”

“O-Of course not! I-it’ll be as though it never happened.” Donnie insisted, picking up the book. “W-We can even be professional about it! You said you wanted to learn, we can… t-think of it as a lesson…”

Raph smirked, quirking a brow. “I’d kinda like to pretend I’m _not_ going to school…”

Though the notion was just ridiculous enough…

“N-Not that I… uh… _reject_ the general—! _Agh_.” He sounded like an idiot. “… _Let’s just_ … start somewhere that makes sense.”

“That sounds… reasonable.”

They smiled at one another and then Raph’s smile fell. “…You _do_ realize how TOTALLY insane this is, right?”

“ ** _No_ ,** _Raph. I never considered_ ~ Of course I know it’s insane!”

              “Well, _good_. It least you realize it.”

And with that, Raph walked past him to the old fold-away day bed at the far wall. It was the only other furniture Donnie kept in the room besides his chair—for long nights in his lab.

The spring-hinged stowaway feature weakly folded down from the wall, fashioned together by a low ironing board and an old, chewed-up murphy bed.

**The flood had _not_ done it any favors.**

Raph stared at it in disapproval. “I feel like a cheap date.”

              “You _are_ a cheap date,” he shot back. He sank into the weak mattress with a terrible creak. And Raph sat beside him.

Were they seriously going through with this?

He searched for hesitation in his features. Doubt. Disgust. Anything. But Donnie only stared back at him with those big, honest brown eyes, so full of tenderness and anticipation. “I really did find the cure for smallpox that night,” he murmured.

It all drove him haywire.

“…Ya sure ya want this? I mean… with me?”

Donnie looked puzzled. “Of course. I brought you here,” he said. “I-If anything, I was concerned about _you_ agreeing to all this! I was worried I came on too strong or escalated it too quickly. I-I can be a little one track minded under a lot of stress…”

Raph raised an eyebrow and smirked. “One track minded huh?”

“I mean—” Donnie’s face went red. “Well, _yes_ —”

Raph swept him into a kiss.

It didn’t matter how responsible he told himself to be. All he wanted was these lips and this thrill where they were together, and the rest of the world disappeared.

If this was what Donnie wanted, he’d give it to him.

When all caution crumbled, he cupped Donnie’s face, held him close, sank into the cot with him. Every motion—tasting, touching, pushing—until this wild, gasping space threatened to swallow him whole.

Donnie. His hips. His chest….

It all happened so fast. The cot collapsed under their weight. Donnie fell back into the wall and Raph followed him down, kissing his neck in all the ways he had in the Shellraiser.

 And in other ways he hadn’t.

_“R-Raph…”_

He leaned into his friction, feeling his small, pleading moans on his face, hips bucking into nervous hands, his fingers trailing down where is shell met his thighs.

Raph wondered, what would it be like when that hot-mouthed, one-tracked mind lost control?

And then the tables turned. Donnie had flipped them over, straddling his lap. He leaned into his ear. “I’d have to trust you and you’d have to trust me.”

His hot voice sent shivers down his spine.

Raph liked the view. “I trust ya.”

Donnie undid the strap from his shoulder.

And there was nothing to consult.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 0 to 100 am I right?  
> THIS will totally not have consequences later... >.>


End file.
